A Nuclear Iran Is Coming

A Nuclear Iran Is Coming

Does anybody here care? I don't.

I've been listening to the perils of threats to our national security for about sixty years. The outcome has been monomania and spending on national "security" that boggles the mind. I even spent two years flying back and forth across the Pacific to guard against Soviet bombing attacks against the continental U.S.!

And now I'm supposed to be exorcised by the threat of Iran to U.S. sovereignty!? Jesus, Mary and Buddha!

The Soviet (now Russian) doom scenario is that some drunk general might mess things up for the world.

9/11-style suicidal nuclear war due to religious lunatics is a more frightening scenario.

But I imagine those with the power are (hopefully) not quite that insane.

Originally posted by Frenzie:

The Soviet (now Russian) doom scenario is that some drunk general might mess things up for the world.

9/11-style suicidal nuclear war due to religious lunatics is a more frightening scenario.

But I imagine those with the power are (hopefully) not quite that insane.

I realize everything out of his mouth sounds like it was written by a comedy writer, but surely he doesn't want to die and is aware of MAD?

I somehow think that Jaybro has a simple and direct point amongst all the chattering going on about Iran and the bomb. The worst scenario is that he (the odd Prsident of Iran),isn't going to get anywhere near in particular the USA nor the UK so we can get on with the comic sections of the papers now.

Three out of three for that Jaybro. Brilliant.

What does the Netherlands or Germany do to forestall the improbable but possible?

My guess is that every country has it's local religious or secular lunatic aboard, but the best anybody can do it to make action by any one person very difficult.

Of course we're writing about Ahmadinejad, but there are reasons to see him more as an inept spokesman for Iran than as a madman. And the fact that about 10,000 Jews still live in Iran says something.

You might give this a look.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5368458.stm

Originally posted by Jaybro:

Of course we're writing about Ahmadinejad, but there are reasons to see him more as an inept spokesman for Iran than as a madman. And the fact that about 10,000 Jews still live in Iran says something.

Inept? He's paying his role perfectly.

Originally posted by Jaybro:

I've been listening to the perils of threats to our national security for about sixty years. The outcome has been monomania and spending on national "security" that boggles the mind. I even spent two years flying back and forth across the Pacific to guard against Soviet bombing attacks against the continental U.S.!

As I and others were reminded when we were younger - the dire necessity of keeping ahead of the evil Soviet communists. Spend, spend, spend on the military and the industries living off them.

Now the Russians are spending 53 billion while we are spending 661 billion. So there.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/10184610.stm

Originally posted by Jaybro:

A Nuclear Iran Is Coming

And?

Originally posted by Jaybro:

And now I'm supposed to be exorcised by the threat of Iran to U.S. sovereignty!? Jesus, Mary and Buddha!

Don't forget Thor and Odin.

Alot of countrys are nuclear. Iran being nuclear is not really a problem because they have limited resources

Originally posted by Jaybro:

What does the Netherlands or Germany do to forestall the improbable but possible?

Maintain secret nuclear arsenals to make any potential attacker regret it dearly?

Or so Greenpeace says.

Originally posted by Jaybro:

Of course we're writing about Ahmadinejad, but there are reasons to see him more as an inept spokesman for Iran than as a madman. And the fact that about 10,000 Jews still live in Iran says something.

That depends entirely on fluctuations in Jewish population. In the late 19th century the Ottoman Empire became increasingly more like how Islam behaves today (i.e. the bigots we know and, um, "love") rather than the tolerant society it used to be (relatively, for its time and compared to most of its neighbors, that is), and many Christians and Jews living in the Ottoman Empire emigrated toward Euope. Some say that for whatever reason most heavy industries and know-how regarding the new industrializing world was in the hands of Christians and that their exodus was thus largely responsible for the major defeat of the Ottoman Empire in WW1.

My point being that you don't have to murder Jews to be anti-Semitic. But if he truly hasn't made life harder for Jews (like licenses required to start a business, entry to schools, etc.) then I would have to revise my opinion of him. Personally, I think it's more likely that he more or less maintained the status quo and didn't make life particularly harder or easier for Jews in Iran than it used to be in the past.

Originally posted by Frenzie:

Originally posted by Jaybro:

What does the Netherlands or Germany do to forestall the improbable but possible?

Maintain secret nuclear arsenals to make any potential attacker regret it dearly?

Or so Greenpeace says.

Dr. Strangelove: Of course, the whole point of a Doomsday Machine is lost, if you *keep* it a *secret*! Why didn't you tell the world, EH?

Originally posted by Macallan:

Dr. Strangelove: Of course, the whole point of a Doomsday Machine is lost, if you *keep* it a *secret*! Why didn't you tell the world, EH?

I like Peter Sellers, but how many characters in that movie weren't him!?

Originally posted by Frenzie:

Originally posted by Macallan:

Dr. Strangelove: Of course, the whole point of a Doomsday Machine is lost, if you *keep* it a *secret*! Why didn't you tell the world, EH?

I like Peter Sellers, but how many characters in that movie weren't him!?

Just a few
He was supposed to be the bomber pilot as well but couldn't quite get the accent right

It may be that Sellers is not dead and is a conspiracy. There may be some indication he is in Michigan.....?

Originally posted by Frenzie:

Originally posted by Jaybro:

What does the Netherlands or Germany do to forestall the improbable but possible?

Maintain secret nuclear arsenals to make any potential attacker regret it dearly?

Thanks for the reminder, I must go into the cellar and check if my secret nuclear arsenal is still there

I don't mind if anybody has nuclear weapons because no president alone can fire these without checks and rechecks. I strongly believe that it needs just one person, who wants her or his family to stay alive, to stop a comic style evil president before he can press the button.

BTW: 1 liter of an aggressive influenza virus, sprayed in the entry hall of an international airport, would do much more harm to the world than a madman with 10 or 20 nuclear bombs.

Originally posted by Macallan:

Originally posted by Jaybro:

Of course we're writing about Ahmadinejad, but there are reasons to see him more as an inept spokesman for Iran than as a madman. And the fact that about 10,000 Jews still live in Iran says something.

Inept? He's paying his role perfectly.

The US defense establishment needs the occasional Ahmadinejad, so I guess you've nailed it! Take him away and who's next in line? We could ramp up the Cuban peril, I suppose.

Originally posted by QuHno:

BTW: 1 liter of an aggressive influenza virus, sprayed in the entry hall of an international airport, would do much more harm to the world than a madman with 10 or 20 nuclear bombs.

Thanks. I needed that! Who sells the stuff by the liter?

Originally posted by Jaybro:

Originally posted by QuHno:

BTW: 1 liter of an aggressive influenza virus, sprayed in the entry hall of an international airport, would do much more harm to the world than a madman with 10 or 20 nuclear bombs.

Thanks. I needed that! Who sells the stuff by the liter?

I'm glad he didn't tell anyone that it should be spayed in the Departure Hall

Seriously though, the threat of Iran having nuclear weapons is more to do with a local war there making all the oil radioactive so that our gas prices go up. Threat to our national security is secondary to that.

Originally posted by string:

I'm glad he didn't tell anyone that it should be spayed in the Departure Hall

There's a ray of sunshine in every disaster.

"National disaster" is a part of our basic vocabulary in the US.

Don't worry about "national disasters", worry about crossing the street, stepping down the stairs or going into the kitchen, all are more deadly than any thread some institutional alerters pose.

We humans are very bad in risk calculation, the more unlikely something is, the greater the thread seems to be, especially if the thread is from far away or, even better, of an unknown origin, it becomes bigger and bigger in our imagination until it paralyzes our rational thinking ...

Originally posted by Jaybro:

A Nuclear Iran Is Coming

I think Iran has much bigger problems that worrying about developing Nukes for whatever purpose.
Over 65% + of the population is below the age of 35, and as seen in the last election, a lot are getting tired of the mass corruption, Qur'an-wanking requirements, etc.

Methinks that thedawgfan touches a point too. The Iranian President is doing what all such power people do when their country is in difficulty - find a situation or country to bleat about. It takes the mind of the hoi-polloi off the ball. Mind control is alive and well.

Originally posted by thedawgfan:

I think Iran has much bigger problems that worrying about developing Nukes for whatever purpose.

Over 65% + of the population is below the age of 35, and as seen in the last election, a lot are getting tired of the mass corruption, Qur'an-wanking requirements, etc.

Your initial observation is undoubtedly correct, but the same is true about an array of "national" governmental concerns in the US as viewed by a statistically large number of people. It's easily the case that a modern government can concern itself with national defense, as it defines it, and economic policy. Iran's last election was largely free of manipulation, and Ahmadinejad won. Polling data prior to the election suggested a looming landslide, and it was born out in the subsequent voting.

Iran's bigger problems are not substantially different in scope than is true for the region. In comparison to Afghanistan, Iranians live in Nirvana.

Originally posted by QuHno:

...We humans are very bad in risk calculation, the more unlikely something is, the greater the thread seems to be, especially if the thread is from far away or, even better, of an unknown origin, it becomes bigger and bigger in our imagination until it paralyzes our rational thinking ...

You are absolutely right, but then Jaybro was always good at great threads

QuHno is better at thread theory than I am at string theory.

OT:
D**N! Thats when I hate spelling checkers I meant threat instead of thread Sorry but I am no native Englisch speaker.

Originally posted by QuHno:

OT:
D**N! Thats when I hate spelling checkers I meant threat instead of thread Sorry but I am no native Englisch speaker.

Yes I know - just pulling your leg - no insult intended

Originally posted by string:

no insult intended

None taken - I meant the automatic ones

Thread safety is something you have to consider when programing, or when perusing D&D.

Originally posted by QuHno:

Sorry but I am no native Englisch speaker.

Me, too, but I speak passable American.

Originally posted by jax:

Thread safety is something you have to consider when programing, or when perusing D&D.

Yeah, and you use locks in both

Reflection: The Japanese will never bomb Pearl harbour...will they?

A lot of countries are nuclear. Iran being nuclear is not really a problem because they have limited resources

Originally posted by probafix:

A lot of countries are nuclear. Iran being nuclear is not really a problem because they have limited resources

Which country has unlimited resources?

This guy is a nut case the sooner he is gone the better!! I think the States is playing the waiting game with him now. Waiting for the people to turn on him and his government. I think they are pretty tired of his ways of doing things and it is just a matter of time.

That is if the Israeli air force does not take matters into there own hands and just bomb the hell of there nuclear plant. They have done it before and I imagine they might do it again.

Originally posted by torontoguy:

That is if the Israeli air force does not take matters into there own hands and just bomb the hell of there nuclear plant.

Heavens, redneck attitudes are everywhere now!

what do you think Iran is going to do you silly man torontoguy - Ppy tiddlywinks or say "Don't do that?" I am not too impressed with the present Iranian President (who is a puppet for the mad Islamist Immans) but it is not an Iraq and Israel or the USA the Tel Aviv puppet masters better take care. Israel can no longer be bombastic about it's military capability. Can I remind of the fiasco of the last attempt at a Lebanon invasion when the IDF had to crawl home with it's tail between the legs and the opponents weren't even soldiers? An attempt at a blitzkrieg on Iran would be a real danger for Israel and it had better show more careful thinking than it's usual cocky attitude.It wouldn't be any 6 day war these days and it could disappear.

Silly, silly, attitude.

Originally posted by rjhowie:

An attempt at a blitzkrieg on Iran would be a real danger for Israel and it had better show more careful thinking than it's usual cocky attitude.It wouldn't be any 6 day war these days and it could disappear.

Substitute "disaster" for "danger". But it's not within the capability of Israel to blitzkrieg Iran. Fools don't always rush in where angels fear to tread. That's a long way from home. Rest easy, Rj.