[Remember_Salamis]

1 - an Osiraq (the Iraqi NPP) scenario is not viable with Iran. Osiraq was a concentration of a ton of Iraq's nuclear infrastructure. The Iranians learned from that and have scattered their nuclear incrastructure all over the country. Even hitting Busheur and Natanz, the two largest facilities, won't work. I've read that 8 - 10 facilities would have to be targeted in order to inflict as much damage done to their program as the Iraqis suffered at Osiraq.

2 - Pakistan should have been taken out shortly after 9/11; Pakistan should have been a spped-bump on the way to Afghanistan. In 2001 their nukes weren't weaponized for delivery by missile; now they are.

3- Regarding Saudi, you should read Richard Perle and David Frum's new book "An End to Evil". In it, Perle proposes that we foment unrest and separatism, or at least threaten to, in Eastern Saudi, ironically where the majority of their oil is and where the largest concentration of oppressed Shias live. Now that's a plan! Without the oil, Saudi is nothing more than a giant Yemen!

[jerrydavenport]

1- Well if we take the iranian reactors out and if they have no uranium enrichment facilities, we could prevent them from a bomb by taking the major component of their bomb making potential out, without which they can never make a bomb.

2- Pakistan is a threat that needs to be addressed. In my opinion musharraf isn't better than anyone. He is co-operating with us, because he doesn't have a choice.
Even then his co-operation has been minimal just to avoid sanctions or a US led war. He hasn't addressed either the nuclear or terror issue decisively.

We need to look beyond musharraf at the possibility of those nukes falling into wrong hands when we think of pakistan.


paki nukes are no good unless they can get them airborne. We can get them on the ground with our superior airpower by grounding their airforce and wrecking their communications. The indian army can then break pakistan up and russia could contribute troops for peace keeping.

3- As for saudi arabia, we have a shiite iran. we have a shiite majority iraq. We don't need another powerful shiite state in the region. We don't need to be confronted with 3 irans in the region. saudi arabia should be broken up into numerous small sheikdoms the size of qatar if possible, we don't need to carve a powerful shiite enclave out of it.