Thoughts on Iran?

[lyeag]

So now, after reading this article, how does everyone feel about Iran having nuclear capabilities?
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/15E6BF77-6F91-46EE-A4B5-A3CE0E9957EA.htm

 

[lyeag]

Gee, I would think the comments made by the president of Iran wanting to wipe out Israel might spark a discussion. I guess everyone is ok with this then?

 

[Teejay32]

no, but I'm stuck on how to respond to it without inadvertently offending mentally handicapped people. I'm working on it though.

 

[BunsenH]

I thought that Al Jazeera was a disreputible news source and only spouted propaganda. Why beilieve them now?

 

[lyeag]

I thought that Al Jazeera was a disreputible news source and only spouted propaganda. Why beilieve them now?

So how do you feel about Reuters reporting it?
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsA...26Z_01_YUE650356_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAN-ISRAEL.xml


I am not saying we should jump in and do anything on the spot, but I do think we need to take this seriously. Crawling under a rock and ignoring Iran would be a very big mistake.

 

[Teejay32]

It is. I got it from cnn though.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

I can't say it is surprise. In fact I think we have heard this before.

 

[sodaseller]

This is surprising only in that Iran was attempting to put on a more moderate image. Without knowing much about Persian politics, I will speculate that it is either for internal consumption or a "last great act of Defianto" given that Iran is even being isolated by the Europeans. Still, this doesn't make our options any better, nor does it make the strengthening of Iran through the Iraq debacle any more palatable. Israel has made enough noise that it intends to strike first if we don't, but that doesn't answer how. Nothing I have read suggests that anything short of a full scale invasion will disable their program

 

[Viking]

no, but I'm stuck on how to respond to it without inadvertently offending mentally handicapped people. I'm working on it though.

That shouldn't be a problem: Most Republicans won't even get it when they're offended

 

[sodaseller]

That shouldn't be a problem: Most Republicans won't even get it when they're offended

Exactly. From a party that ridicules intellect as a leadership defect and celebrates ignorance as decisive, such claims ring hollow.

 

[Teejay32]

thanks for stopping by, Viking. I've been seized with fresh ideas.

 

[Tumbleweed]

I've always thought that Iran and North Korea were more of a threat than
Iraq. They are pretty scary; they really do have nuclear weapons.

 

[Viking]

I've always thought that Iran and North Korea were more of a threat than
Iraq. They are pretty scary; they really do have nuclear weapons.

But there's one important difference between Iran and North Korea: Iran has oil, North Korea hasn't. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to know that this makes an intervention in Iran much more probable.

 

[Teejay32]

I agree with that.

 

[bsnyder]

I agree with that.

Me too.

 

[lyeag]

also found on Reuters

BERLIN (Reuters) - Iran is permitting around 25 high-ranking al Qaeda members to roam free in the country's capital, including three sons of Osama bin Laden, a German monthly magazine reported on Wednesday.

Citing information from unnamed Western intelligence sources, the magazine Cicero said in a preview of an article appearing in its November edition that the individuals in question are from Egypt, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia and Europe.

They are living in houses belonging to Iran's Revolutionary Guards, the report said.

"This is not incarceration or house arrest," a Western intelligence agent was quoted as saying. "They can move around as they please."

The three sons of Osama bin Laden in Iran are Saeed, Mohammad and Othman, Cicero reported. Another person enjoying the support of the Revolutionary Guards is al Qaeda spokesman Abu Ghaib, the report said.

Iran first said late last year that it had arrested and would try a number of foreigners suspected of having links to al Qaeda, a loose network of military groups that Washington blames for the attacks of September 11, 2001 and bomb attacks in Spain, Indonesia, Egypt and elsewhere.

The report in Cicero also accused the Revolutionary Guards' secret service of offering logistical support and military training to senior al Qaeda leaders.

Iran has repeatedly denied any link to or support of al Qaeda.

Britain and the United States suspect Iran of supporting insurgents in Iraq, a charge Tehran has vehemently denied.

 

[MizBlu]

As if to add insult to injury, there's a pro-Iranian Shiite government running Iraq who consider the Iranian Shiites their "brothers".

Btw, as someone who lived in the Middle East for a few years, don't take all the "high falutin" language that comes out of the Middle East as literal. It's a common custom to embellish things in very elaborate language. And the Isrealis know it and they're used to hearing they're going to be wiped off the map.

 

[richiebaseball]

It's a common custom to embellish things in very elaborate language.

We call them campaign promises.

 

[dcentity2000]

Iran actually scares me. They still practice "an eye for an eye" - for instance, one man who accidentally blinded someone in the eye had one of his own eye's surgically removed as punishment - seemingly without pain killers.



Rich::

 

[MizBlu]

Iran actually scares me. They still practice "an eye for an eye" - for instance, one man who accidentally blinded someone in the eye had one of his own eye's surgically removed as punishment - seemingly without pain killers.



Rich::

That's everywhere in the Muslim world. Floggings, amputating hands, and stonings are common in Saudi Arabia. Isreali soldiers in the territories used to come back with stories of "honor killings" and being handed a bag with a women's head in it that used to belong to the one who had dishonored the family. There's a woman in Pakistan who's male relative did something to someone and his punishment was..........a female member of his family would be gang raped. And that's not uncommon. Women who commit the Sharia offense of fornication, and that includes women who were raped but cannot come up with the required 4 male witnesses, are imprisoned and even stoned to death.