So now what?

[NorthSideSox72]

This is completely false. The current regime in Iran took root in 1979 - 27 years ago. Iran's government spent the bulk of its first 9 years fighting Iraq.

 

 

It is absolutely a large difference, especially when you consider that Iran went just short of a decade at war with Iran. 27 years and forty -- huge gap there, and then subtract nine from twenty seven, and you've got a lot less years to pursue nuclear weapons -- weapons that take years -- and it gives a very different view of the situation. It's important to have a genuine timeframe here, Kap.

 

Personally, I think some sort of action has to be taken, but the Iranians are still a ways off of their nukes, and I think it's important to keep that in perspective.

 

What makes you two think that Iran wasn't pursuing nukes when at war with Iraq? In fact, I'm willing to be that war made them all the more likely to try for them.

[kapkomet]

What makes you two think that Iran wasn't pursuing nukes when at war with Iraq? In fact, I'm willing to be that war made them all the more likely to try for them.

I don't have "proof" but I think the same. I think they have been trying since the middle 70's, at least.

 

 

Also, as a side note, that's why I think we're in Iraq now, but that's besides the point.

[NorthSideSox72]

I don't have "proof" but I think the same. I think they have been trying since the middle 70's, at least.

Also, as a side note, that's why I think we're in Iraq now, but that's besides the point.

No need for a mask there. I would say that most thinking men and women knew from the start that the excuses of WMD, Saddam and 9/11 Iraq connections were all thin and unsupported. The anchorhead was the ultimate goal, as a regional power play.

[Rex Kickass]

I don't have "proof" but I think the same. I think they have been trying since the middle 70's, at least.

Also, as a side note, that's why I think we're in Iraq now, but that's besides the point.

 

Again, not to argue semantics - but if Iran was trying to get nukes in the mid 70s, they were doing it with our support. Because they were allied with the US then.

 

Is it possible that Iran was pursuing nuclear weaponry during the Iran/Iraq war? Yes, but most likely not seriously. Between the cultural revolution that the clerics in charge were pursuing and a war with a neighbor that wouldn't go away, I would imagine the resources that Iran had to devote to such a project would be limited at best.

[minors]

Again, not to argue semantics - but if Iran was trying to get nukes in the mid 70s, they were doing it with our support. Because they were allied with the US then.

 

Is it possible that Iran was pursuing nuclear weaponry during the Iran/Iraq war? Yes, but most likely not seriously. Between the cultural revolution that the clerics in charge were pursuing and a war with a neighbor that wouldn't go away, I would imagine the resources that Iran had to devote to such a project would be limited at best.

 

 

Iran is the bigger threat. They have already taken our hostages and because of a weak ass President they stayed there. It took Regan and his no bulls*** way of handling things to get our boys back.

[southsider2k5]

This is completely false. The current regime in Iran took root in 1979 - 27 years ago. Iran's government spent the bulk of its first 9 years fighting Iraq.

 

We know they have been trying to get stuff since the 60's, mostly because we were aiding them.

 

This is true. However, it should be stated that the President of Iran has relatively little power. If that were the case, perhaps the reformers who tried to change Iran in the late 90's and early 00's would still be in power. Yet they aren't. The actual supreme leaders of Iran seem to have been fairly consistent and far more pragmatic in their actual actions. Iran's chief foreign policy aim at this point would be more akin to expanding its in sphere of influence to work on getting an allied Iraq. Something it's actually being quite successful in doing. It's years away from being able to be offensive towards other major powers - and its something that this government isn't too likely to do anyway. Simply because the level of dissent would increase as their power grows.

The man you fear would never have his hand on the button.

 

Do you honestly believe that the Ayatolla would let someone into power who was 180 degrees from their own philosophy? They hold way too much power to let someone into office they felt would be leading them down a path that they did not want to go down.

[Rex Kickass]

We know they have been trying to get stuff since the 60's, mostly because we were aiding them.

Do you honestly believe that the Ayatolla would let someone into power who was 180 degrees from their own philosophy? They hold way too much power to let someone into office they felt would be leading them down a path that they did not want to go down.

 

The people who were trying to get stuff in the 1960's have no connection to who runs the show in Iran now. So to accuse these people of seeking nukes when they didn't have a country is disingenuous.

 

You're right there, the Ayatollah won't let someone who has a 180 degree difference in viewpoint hold office but it doesn't mean that people 45-90 degrees apart can't get elected. The guy you fear simply doesn't have the power to do what you fear.

[southsider2k5]

The people who were trying to get stuff in the 1960's have no connection to who runs the show in Iran now. So to accuse these people of seeking nukes when they didn't have a country is disingenuous.

 

You're right there, the Ayatollah won't let someone who has a 180 degree difference in viewpoint hold office but it doesn't mean that people 45-90 degrees apart can't get elected. The guy you fear simply doesn't have the power to do what you fear.

 

Iran has had a nuclear program since the 1960's and has been trying to aquire bomb technology pretty much as long. Just because the current regime wasn't there then, doesn't mean anything. Its like saying what the Kennedy admin did doesn't matter today. Did the Ayatollah come in and completely destroy and get rid of every single iota of nuclear technology and research when they came into power? If not, it does matter, because its not like they just started on the day of the Revolution. Besides the fact remains I never said anything specific to this regime, I stated that Iran has been trying to get a bomb for about 40 years, not the current group in power.