Um... how serious of an option are nuclear strikes against Iran?
I realize that "all options are available" is a world away from "Now where did I put that launch code" but it's still kind of unsettling.
Plus it'd be a real bitch to make it through the entire Cold War without unpacking a warhead just to break the streak now. Also, isn't it more than a bit hypocritical to tell a nation that they are unfit to have a nuclear weapons program and then threaten to bomb them with the same weapons?
This seems to be the international diplomacy spin on, "Because I said so, that's why," from my parents when I was a kid. Or spanking a kid for hitting someone.
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Bush is an idiot on a lot of matters, but the fallout from this Iranian arms issue is overblown. Unilateral disarmament is foolish. The treehuggers out there would love for the U.S. to come out publicly and say we'll never use our nukes and, in fact, just throw them away because the world would be all peaceful if it weren't for our war-mongering U.S. President. That's a nice thought and aspiration, but it's ridiculously naive.
Iran and its Asian cousin North Korea aren't like the old Soviet Union from the Cold War Era. The Soviets had huge incentives to engage in diplomacy from a national defense perspective (mutually assured destruction if they ever went to war with the U.S.) and economically (they wanted power from a market standpoint). Sure, both the U.S. and U.S.S.R. engaged in putting plenty of fear into each other and other countries, but they had a huge number of other interests that kept them in check. On the other hand, Iran and North Korea want power through nukes - period. They are led by totalitarian dictators that have no incentive whatsoever to cooperate with anyone anywhere. They have absolutely nothing invested in relationships with the rest of world (in contrast to the Soviets, who had a lot on the table).
Don't let personal hatred of Bush cloud what will be one of the most serious national security issues that we're going to face as a nation for the next ten to twenty years. A small nation led by a rogue dictator with a few nukes is a lot more dangerous to us than the Soviet Union, which had lots of nukes but also a lot in play on the world stage.
I say we just give them McDonald's franchises and stop worrying about it.
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