Iran to test more missiles in Gulf wargames

[Canuck_Buck]

OK not good

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060402/iran_missiles_060403/20060403?hub=TopStories

As the international community worries over Iran's nuclear ambitions, the Tehran government is boasting it has successfully fired multiple-warhead missiles in a series of wargames -- with more to follow.

Guess who's next? Git Er Done? Count me in...

[BenGarrett]

Iran vs. the U.S.
Iran vs. Israel
Iran vs. the collective efforts of the U.S., Great Britain, et al

None of those are scenarios that have very positive outlooks from an Iranian standpoint. Their need to flex their puny little muscles amazes me. Even the geeky little kid in fifth grade, who dreamed of being the class hunk when he was safely behind his bedroom door, knew better than to challenge the class's head honcho out on the playground.

If they need proof of what will happen if they continue to mess with the rest of the world, need they look any further than Saddam? Saddam had it all: Big palaces. Villages to plunder. All the riches that an oil-rich country has to offer. He had an ego problem and look where it landed him.

Really, Iran reminds me of a bumblebee. You leave your kitchen door open and a bumblebee is sure to stick his nose into something he shouldn't have stuck his nose into, and he winds up in your kitchen. Instead of just keeping quiet and searching for a way out of what he's gotten himself into, the bumblebee will invariably buzz around and create enough of a scene that he winds up between a rolled-up newspaper and the wall. Oh, he'll make a lot of noise and he might even manage to sting once or twice, and it'll hurt. But he doesn't stand a chance of avoiding getting squashed.

I wonder if the collective heads in Tehran have the gray matter that that ol' bumblee enjoys?

[kevin1]

Methinks we're close to having control of the world's third largest oil patch , we're already sitting on the second largest . I didn't worry about Iran back in '79 and I don't lose sleep over them now , a major city costs a lot more to replace than any ship . The nitwits controlling Iran are fanatics , not idiots .

[North Texan]

The nitwits controlling Iran are fanatics , not idiots .

That statement pretty much sums up pretty much all of the potential problem nations in the world today. They aren't developing the weapons to use them, they are developing the weapons to have them. To them, that makes them a world power and gives them a little bit bigger bargaining chip. Without, they will always be subject to countries with superior military force dictating what they can and can't do.

[kevin1]

Without, they will always be subject to countries with superior military force dictating what they can and can't do.

With or without they're all just podunk little backwaters and probably always will be , having a big sword is useless if you can't swing it without getting your head chopped off in the process . The greater concern should be that they'll go off half cocked and piss off the Israelis , a very likely prospect when you have mullahs with no military experience driving your goob .

[RedAllison]

I think you guys are sadly mistaking the ramifications of a nuclear detonation in the Middle East. For one, most of our greatest armed forces are over there right now. What happens if just 1/10th of our troops are faced with radiation sickness? What happens if the Iranians somehow detonate a nuke anywhere near Israel?

Let's not forget one other scenario (GOD FORBID) what if all this missle testing is just hype and a smokescreen? What if Iran just put a warhead in a shipping container, sailed it into NY City harbor and detonated it? 9/11 cost our economy TRILLION$ (alot of is still on going). Just imagine the physcological impact such a detonation would have on the modern world. We lost 3K on 9/11, what would happen if over 1,000,000 grew sick from radiation exposure and slowly died/became incapcitatedover a 6month period. Think about NY City beinga radiation dumping ground un-inhabitable for the next few centuries!!! THAT is exactly the kinds of terrorism that those ragheads want to create upon the west.

I don't think we should even wait. B-52s should've been in the air already and a parking lot should've already been made of Iran!!! I sincerely hope the "secret/undergrounds" in our military are already watching and planning assassinations and select bombings deep within Iran and North Korea as well.
RA

[kevin1]

Red , while the Iranians do hate us they hate Israel even more , and Israel is a lot closer to them than we are . If they were to get a suitcase nuke from the Russian mafia they could conceivably get it to either destination , but my money would be on them nuking Jerusalem . They would kill their own Palestinian brethren in the process, but the psychological impact on the arab world would be profound . They can't get us both since whichever one they attack puts the other one on guard , so they would go for the easier target . Either way the Middle East will implode . I have to think that if our goob considered the Iranians a credible threat then they would have ratched up the rhetoric a lot more by now .

[Champlain Islander]

ORIGINAL: kevin1

With or without they're all just podunk little backwaters and probably always will be , having a big sword is useless if you can't swing it without getting your head chopped off in the process . The greater concern should be that they'll go off half cocked and piss off the Israelis , a very likely prospect when you have mullahs with no military experience driving your goob .

That is the way we think as westerners but the fact remains that "they" have no regard for human life...even their own. Suicide bombings are common and they are waiting in line to participate. Their focus on the after life with all those 72 virgins means more than the present life in squalid conditions.

[North Texan]

Nuclear weapons are only superior as long as YOUR the only one that has them. When more than two countries have them, they can both raise the threat of mutually assured destruction to keep the other country at bay.

And although the U.S. has nuclear weapons, our current policies don't leave us much room to effectively use them. For a country that has used them very effectively, look to Pakistan. If they were stuck with conventional warfare methods, India would overrun them and probably slaughter them to the man in a few days. However, Pakistan realized this and worked until they became a nuclear power. Now, although India could wipe Pakistan off the map, Pakistan can now make the same threat to India. As a result, Pakistan can now exercise more of its rights as an independent nation without worrying about being overtaken at a moments notice. The government of Pakistan realizes the true power of nuclear weapons is not in their use, but in the threat of their use.

[RedAllison]

NT your info is spot on, BUT only in the context that Pakistan and India are half way modern countries with a much different culture and mindset than these Muslim extremists who are in charge in Iran. The govts. of India and Pakistan do not want to die for their cause and take the rest of the globe with them. Like you said, nuclear weapons for peace sakeARE viable tools when in sane hands. BUT what about nuclear capabilities in the hands of maniacal "anti-semitic/western" terrorists hellbent on suicide? A crazed Hadji in a rusted out Toyota with a floorboard full of explosives is an entirely different manner than if that same raghead is driving a panel truck through Jerusalem or NYC and in the back of it lies a dirty bomb or someother kind of IED containing nuclear/radioactive material.

COMPLETELY different set of circumstances and outcomes,
RA