Posted on 03/05/2006 1:15:08 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Im afraid it is almost too late at this point.
I guess it's time to go long on popcorn.
Nothing will be done to stop Iran from getting nukes.
Our hands are tied because of Iraq. The US can not attack Iran now as we have 125,000 soldiers as targets in Iraq. Attack Iran, and the Shia majority in Iraq will go bonkers against us.
Isreal may try to derail Iran's nuclear dreams, but they just don't have the ability to launch the kinds of sustained strikes that would be needed to eliminate Iran's program in the long term.
Europe is a joke. Iran knows the Europeans are weak and spineless.
I'm afraid the truth is that Iran will join the nuclear club just like North Korea did. Not so long ago the US was commited to preventing the North Koreans from getting nukes.....and we all know how that worked out.
The West, to include the US, is just too awash in political correctness, multicultural nonense, squeamishness at the thought of any civilian casualities on the enemy side, etc.
We will wind up getting hit again and again at home before American attitudes change. Maybe at that time, we will finally realize that it is Islam that is our enemy - not just a few radicals.
I would hope they know how to defend themselves.
BUSH: TAKE OFF EVERY 'ZIG'!!
follow-up headline
IRAN BOMBED IN APRIL
Hahahah all your base are belong to us!
Thats how many divisions that can be on the Iranian boarder in 7 days?
I may be wrong but they seem to be equipped with M1 Abram's tanks, Apache Attack Helicopters, One heck of an Air Force and about 3 years of in the trenches urban fighting experience.. Doesn't sound like a force you would want to see coming over the next hill in a big hurry if you thought they may be looking for tails to kick.
Perhaps the Rats will get their wants, the US Army and Marines heading for the Horizon.. uh.. to the West.
And lets see.. don't we like to start campaigns in March/April in that part of the world.
Iran is betting they can get a pass like North Korea did.. Cross the Nuclear finish line and you are invulnerable.
I personally believe that the bru ha ha about the UAE ports deal is a back lash about the cartoon issue.. lots of people woke up to the fact that we really really are at WAR with Islamofascists, on a global scale, with our very lives and freedom in the balance. And, they haven't found a nuanced position to make sense out of the threat that is posed verses the need to win by prolonged struggle. There is no simply walking away. The alternative in the Ports deal was Singapore.. another Islamic city state, spuds or potatoes, but no one is pointing that out.
Still this upheaval is not simply dismissed, its deeper meaning is that Americans are more than ever ready to engage in Total War. This is something that should not be approached lightly. This is a brink that Americans must resist, but it may only be possible for us to resist labeling all of Islam an enemy, if we can find and live with Muslim countries and people who we see as friends and allies.
In this, George Bush has been a genius, helping folks on both sides to the light. And now, cementing India as a strategic Ally to the West of Iran, as well as, giving the Chinese something new to consider. The game is so much larger than the day to day Gotcha politics, that perhaps we may need to notice we are at war and get back to defending our home front.
If this news is accurate, the next next major battle in this war may only be weeks away.. America sleeps while her enemies circle... Unfortunately this is necessary because of Patriots like Joe Wilson, the NY Times, Cindy Sheehan, Jimmy Carter, John Kerry, Jay Rockefeller, Nancy Pelosi, and the Democratic/MSM party insist that many thousands/millions need to die before we are allowed to defend ourselves.
That is the first and the last day Iran will have the bomb!
Probably the reason that no one is "pointing that out" is that they would be dead wrong. Singapore is 15% Muslim, 15% Christian, and 42% Buddhist. That being the case, you wouldd be just as right (or wrong) to call Singapore a "Christian city state".
WHAT YOU SAY?!?!? IT'S YOU!!! HOW ARE YOU GENTLEMAN@!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
My point is that the Saudi's and China are already owning and running terminals in the US and Singapore was the alternate bidder. No where in sight was an alternate that would be any more secure than UAE.
However, at this point I descend into ignorance.
Iran may or may not want the bomb -- I don't know. We can be sure, though, that there's no way in hell they'll have one in six months. Even if they have the proper designs, they just don't have the uranium.
A good rule of thumb is that about 1500 centrifuges running for a year will give you enough U-238 to build a nuclear bomb. Iran is currently running 20 to 30 centrifuges. Plus, I've heard several reports that they're having technical problems with their enrichment: the Pakistanis sold them the blueprints to an enrichment method twice as fast, but the Iranians don't know how to use it.
The tricky part is that with only 20-30 centrifuges running, Iran's program does look more like a energy program than a weapons program. That causes problems for the US on both ends. On one hand, we could overreact and get ourselves into an unnecessary war with a non-nuclear Iran; on the other hand, if we're complacent, they may be able to quickly "breakout" to a weapons program if the IAEA isn't watching.
This is all predicated on the assumption that they're not being supplied with what they need. I am opposed to all UN Inspection programs. The reason? They kept telling us in Iraq how their entire WMD program could fit into a trailer. How can you inspect a whole country? Any nation that wants to keep the inspectors in the dark can do so.
Nuclear programs are much harder to hide because they require large, complicated, and delicate industrial equipment.
It is theoretically possible that Iran would be getting HEU from another source. Two things, though: (1) if they could buy HEU, why go to the trouble of making it? and (2) if there's someone out there selling weapons-grade uranium, we have a much bigger situation on our hands.
I agree with yout overall point.
As long as there are no American companies willing to bid on these operating contracts, the ports are left with two choices for their terminals: close them down or allow foreign companies to run them.
If we bar competitive foreign companies from bidding, the result will certianly be higher operating costs, making us less competitive in world markets.
You pay your money and make your choice.
20-30 or 200-300?
If we don't have access to the facility, how would we know?
if the Iranians have put these enrichment facilities undergroun d as reported, it seems to me it would be extraordinarily difficult for us to know just how many centriguges they have running, even within one order of magnitude.
Now, if this is so profitable, why are American companies running for the gates?
Did this just miss Warren Buffett et al? You might think that if it was just profitability you would find a diversity of ownership.. but instead we find the whole class of companies owned by foreign companies. So what are possible explanations for this odd situation?
I think this is the real story behind the story.
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