Yes, we agree. We're probably not going to always agree, let's agree however to not denying reality. Iran, as
far as I can determine, has not a nuclear weapon as of today. We agree and I'm coming in late to the
conversation so...apologize for confusion.
Apologies accepted! I am glad that we have something in common which is based on truth. We may not always agree but I think it's refreshing to bring in different perspectives to this. At the end of the day you’re entitled to your views as I am I to mine.

I'm sorry, where do you quote me using "ally" to describe Saudi Arabia? I was making a point concerning Iran.
These are not Saudi Bombs killing American soldiers Sir, the Saudi military is not supplying rockets fired into
Green Zones. And please do not attribute words to me I didn't write. Thank You.
I do apologise if I gave you the impression that I quoted you using the term "ally" to describe Saudi Arabia in your previous post. I do not like it either when some members here have previously misquoted me.

That statement was purely rhetorical and vented my frustration with some of the double standard policies of your government (if you're an american) which I view as short sighted compensating the long term strategic goals in the region. Back to the point I made on Saudi Arabia in my list of countries from earlier actually yes I do find Saudi Arabia a whole lot different from Iran in many aspects.
I guess the article below to some degree expresses the view which I have held for a while:
Here's an extract:
May 5, 2008. A World to Win News Service. U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s recent threat to “totally obliterate” Iran was truly alarming, not just for what she said, but for what didn’t happen: for the firestorm of condemnation and repudiation that didn’t take place, either in Washington or any other Western capital. Even her rival for the Democratic Party nomination, Barack Obama, confined himself to gently chiding her for a poor choice of words—“It’s not the language we need right now.” What he didn’t say, and what no American politician likely to have a voice in the matter did not say either, is that what she is threatening is genocide, that genocide is a crime, and that even threats of genocide are unacceptable.
Clinton’s shocking threat revealed a great deal more than her own ambitions. It brought to light a certain mood in Washington as a whole, a consensus that Iran is a threat to American interests and that the U.S. should plan for and carry out whatever it takes to achieve political goals they all agree on.
So much for the idea that Bush’s impending exit from the White House might lessen the danger of an attack on Iran, before or after he leaves office.
Last November, a U.S. National Intelligence Estimate concluded that Iran was probably no longer engaging in a nuclear weapons program. The public release of that document indicated unease about the advisability of attacking Iran and contention within the ranks of those who make such decisions. But the situation has evolved somewhat since then. Ironically, as the stated end of Bush’s term in office appears on the horizon, it seems that the strategic assessment he made, in, for instance, his April 10 speech, has been broadly accepted among those who make such decisions. “Iraq is the convergence point of the two greatest threats to America in this century: Al Qaeda and Iran.”
Contrary to what he and others repeatedly imply or claim, the two are different in many basic ways. They are enemies, with no connection between them that anyone has ever provided the slightest evidence for. But you only have to rearrange these words a little to decode what Bush really meant, and what really is the truth: the Shia Islamic Republic of Iran and armed Sunni anti-U.S. Islamic fundamentalism are the sharpest threats to the locking in of the global “American century” the U.S. is seeking. Both reflect an Islamic fundamentalist tide, and the success of any of the diverse and mutually opposed components of this trend in confronting the U.S. emboldens and spurs on the others.
Even more ironically, if irony is appropriate when discussing calls for mass murder, Bush’s statement is far more true now than when he launched the “war on terror” and put Iran alongside Iraq on the “axis of evil.” What has made it truer is the U.S.’s whole international rampage since the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center. The American-led invasion of Afghanistan brought back to life a Taliban that had made itself hated and discredited among many Afghans. American attempts to keep hold of Pakistan have pushed armed Islamic fundamentalism there out of control. Looking to the other side of the horizon, the U.S.-backed Israeli invasion of Lebanon resulted in an unprecedented stalemate for the Israeli army and encouraged the growth of Hezbollah as one of Iran’s most militarily and politically potent allies, with a real army and modern weapons under its command and probably more sympathy throughout the Middle East than any of the American-dependent rulers.
In the eye of this hurricane sits Iraq. Of course Bush is lying when he blames Iran for the war against the U.S. occupation in Iraq. But there is no denying that that war is the best thing for Iran’s mullahs since they came to power. If they are overconfident that the U.S. will not dare attack or that such a war would end in an American defeat, perhaps it is because if there is a god, he has certainly been munificent to them in this regard. He gave them an American occupation in Iraq that, as concluded in a recent paper by U.S. Department of Defense analyst Joseph Collins, the U.S. can’t win and can’t afford to lose. (“Choosing War: The Decision to Invade Iraq and Its Aftermath,” Institute for Strategic Studies, National Defense University) Yet there is little hope for a political solution that would enable the U.S. to continue to rule Iraq without the help of forces tied to Islamic fundamentalism in general and especially to the Islamic Republic of Iran, the sister regime to the Islamic government the U.S. ended up installing in Iraq.
If American authorities are increasingly casting the Iraq war as about Iran, a “proxy war,” as U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker recently said, it is because the invasion of Iraq was never just about the Saddam Hussein regime, or just Iraq itself, but a U.S. bid for regional control which made a collision with Iran inevitable. While the ruling mullahs in Tehran are carefully calibrating their moves (for instance, supporting Shia forces both inside and opposed to the U.S.-installed Iraqi government), and trying to avoid or postpone a direct collision with the U.S. over Iraq, they are certainly seeking to advance their interests in what is, for them, an advantageous situation.
There is another side of the picture for the Iranian regime: It is completely surrounded on all sides by the American military, in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the states of the Persian Gulf and Central Asia. Near the southeastern Iraq town of Kut, about 58 kilometers from the Iranian border and near a main border crossing between the two countries, American contractors are busily expanding barracks to comfortably house 6,000 U.S. troops. Until now, the installation has been a main base for spying on Iran. The U.S. sent first one and recently a second aircraft carrier strike group to the Gulf, and another one to the eastern Mediterranean off Lebanon. Few times in history has so much firepower been concentrated. On several occasions now, the U.S. and the UK have provoked naval clashes close to the Iranian shoreline. The additional amount of weapons of mass destruction the U.S. could quickly deploy from the Indian Ocean, Europe and the imperialist “homeland” itself is horrendous.
Full article:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/05/16/18499711.phpkactus
Yeah right make sure that the Osirak party does not back fire this time!
CharlesMartel
Hell will be unleashed if they do.
You're damn right hell will be unleashed should Israel dare to attack Iran first without being unprovoked. That's why they would want to get US involved.
What isn't being thought thru is IRan with an atomic weapon...and how that changes the equation
overnight.
Absolutely Charles... Israel certainly fears Iran attaining strategic nuclear capability, but not because it expects Iran to launch a suicidal nuclear exchange. That’s the sort of scare-story fueling 24/7 as a propoganda for public consumption. The reality is different. Israel with its nuclear arsenal is more than capable to take care of itself even a nuclear armed Iran is not a threat to Israel’s existence. The whole concern with Israel is based on maintaining an overwhelming strategic advantage over challengers. A nuclear armed Iran poses that challenge as Israel will no longer have the nuclear monopoly status in the region.
No. I expected them to excel in roadside bombs. Short range rockets now being used today. I expected them to keep funding and supporting and training terrorism like they're currently doing in southern Lebanon with their lil proxy army Hezbollah or the undeniable support they feed Hamas and other Palestinian charities. I expected uranium enrichment with their claim its for civilian purposes only while your claim is they want the actual weapon as a deterrent.
Your sarcasm is duly noted. Again my recollection of history in the region is different from yours and that's where we depart and go our separate path in seeking the truth. Let's not forget that Iran was the same country that Saddam invaded back in the eighties with the full backing and military support from US in a bloody war that lasted 8 years and cost many lives. Yet when was the last time Iran invaded another country? Hmmm, let me think.
Let's be clear about one thing. Iran has always maintained they’re enriching uranium for civilian purposes and to date NO ONE can prove otherwise. I on the other hand still maintain that nuclear weapon is generally a strategic deterrent should Iran face a threat to its national security and its existence and wish to go down the nuclear path. I'd like to think that this is generally the accepted view since deployment of nuclear weapons results in MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) and trust me the Iranian government despite some of his remarks is not stupid.
kactus
The long range missiles you are talking about has not suddenly materialised and become a new invention in Iran.
Iran has had this technology for many years and if they wanted to hit Israel they could have done it long ago,
which is why I believe nuclear power is perceived by Iran as a deterrent.
CharlesMartel
Tell me something that I didn't know. The article says Kavoshgar 1 was tested on 4th Feb and is no more advanced than Shahab 3. Shahab 3 on the other hand is a missile technology that Iran has possessed for many years capable of hitting Israel. The point remains if Iran wanted to attack Israel they could have done it long ago. This confirms what I have been saying that these weapons are there to serve as deterrent.
Now you got to be paying more attention
And, they're startng to get resolved, huh?
It’s not the question of why the Palestinian issue is being resolved. It’s whether there’s genuinely enough interest to resolve the stalemate by either side. And frankly I sense that the israeli policy makers are quite indifferent to the peace process whatever now that may be.