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Why Iran Wants The Bomb (It's Bush's fault)
YahooNews ^ | Mar.17, 2006

Posted on 03/17/2006 6:34:13 PM PST by nuconvert

WHY IRAN WANTS THE BOMB

By Richard Reeves

LOS ANGELES -- Let me ask you a question: If you were running Iran, would you try to develop nuclear weapons?

I would.

Apparently the editors of the Los Angeles Times would also answer "Yes."

The lead editorial in Friday's Times was comment on the release of the U.S. government's latest "National Security Strategy." That's the one in which President Bush's introduction begins, "America is at war," and then goes on to specifically name Iran as an enemy of the United States. The document also reiterates the U.S. commitment to pre-emptive or preventive war.

The Times puts it this way:

"In invading Iraq, Bush has created his own nightmare. Iraq is now a magnet for jihadists. And Iran is even more determined to develop nuclear weapons to forestall a fate similar to Iraq's. ... A document that names as enemies Iran and North Korea ... provides all the justification those regimes need for a nuclear deterrent of their own. And it virtually guarantees a continuation of the very proliferation that Bush has identified as the greatest threat of all."

In plainer language, the bomb is the symbol of maturity in the world today. Nations that have the bomb are treated as grown-ups. Nations without the bomb get no respect. To many Iranians, not all of them fanatic clerics who dress funny, building a bomb is the only protection against Americans trying to take over their world. Non-proliferation would make more sense if you are not afraid of the Americans.

Again, what would you do? The United States says it is at war, you are the enemy, and it will strike first if it decides that is in its national interest. But that is not likely to happen if you have nuclear weapons.

That is a lesson learned for many bad guys -- including Saddam Hussein. It seems that the reason the Iraqi tyrant was pretending to have weapons of mass destruction was not to scare the Americans, but to deter the Iranians. According to the new book by Michael Gordon and retired general Bernard Trainor, "Cobra II," Saddam was afraid that if Iran knew that Iraq no longer had stocks of poison gas -- both sides used gas in the eight-year Iran-Iraq war that ended in 1988 -- then Iran might not be deterred if it had visions of moving into southern Iraq.

President Bush, judging from the 49-page National Security Strategy, seems to have learned no lesson, including the fact that America is not really at war. The government and its volunteer military and the new brand of privatized paramilitary corporations are at war. But the whole thing is just television to most of the citizenry -- at least, those who do not have servicemen and women in the family, or do not have a financial stake in keeping this thing going.

Besides, this adventure is not going to be paid for by us, but by our children and grandchildren, who will be the ones paying the bills. In case you do not follow such things, the national debt has increased by 50 percent during this administration.

"War," to me, is not the most disturbing word in the strategy document. What scares me is the word "our." As in: "It is the policy of the United States to seek and support democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world."

It is not "our" world. It is "the" world, still a planet of nations wallowing in their own history, ambition, fantasies -- and self-interests. The American fantasy these days is that we are better than other people and they all want to be just like us.

What other people want is what we have, "things." Things like cars and iPods, clean water and good health. And they want us to leave them alone or treat them as grown-ups.

We are drowning in our own hype. If God really made us so much better than other people, we would have been able to beat the South Koreans and Mexicans in the opening rounds of the World Baseball Classic last week.


TOPICS: Editorial; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: americahate; blameamericacrowd; bush; iran; irannukes; leftistarticle; nukes
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1 posted on 03/17/2006 6:34:16 PM PST by nuconvert
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To: nuconvert

Iran wants the bomb to wipe Israel off the map.


2 posted on 03/17/2006 6:35:23 PM PST by My2Cents ("The essence of American journalism is vulgarity divested of truth." -- Winston Churchill)
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To: nuconvert
"Iran is even more determined to develop nuclear weapons to forestall a fate similar to Iraq's"

Reeves is either a fool or a liar (probably both) - everyone who knows anything knows that Iran has been aggresively pursuing nuclear weaponry since long before 2001. They lied and cheated with the fools at the IAEA for many years.
3 posted on 03/17/2006 6:37:26 PM PST by Enchante (Democrats: "We are ALL broken and worn out, our party & ideas, what else is new?")
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To: nuconvert

Left-wing hate-America crap.


4 posted on 03/17/2006 6:39:15 PM PST by CBart95
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To: nuconvert

Left-wing hate-America crap.


5 posted on 03/17/2006 6:39:20 PM PST by CBart95
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To: nuconvert

Why Iran's Mad Mullahs want the A-Bomb is simple --

Sung to the tune of the Horst Wessel

Oh Mullah, Oh Mullah give us a Fatwa
Your Jihadi are waiting to die
The Morning will come
The Rule of the world is Islam
Tomorrow belongs to Jihadi.


6 posted on 03/17/2006 6:39:56 PM PST by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
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To: SandRat

If Kerry was in charge, Iran would have the bomb already, and would likely have used it on Israel. He did campaign on giving Iran nuclear technology for "peaceful" purposes, after all.


7 posted on 03/17/2006 6:42:22 PM PST by Sterm26 (Death before Dhimmitude!)
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To: Enchante

Of Course!
He's an idiot.


8 posted on 03/17/2006 6:42:43 PM PST by nuconvert ([there's a lot of bad people in the pistachio business])
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To: nuconvert
"It's Bush's Fault!" is getting to be a mantra not only among the DIMS but also the Republicains and Conservatives! It isn't funny anymore!

That phrase is getting too burned-in in our conciousness!

I believe we should knock off saying the phrase altogether, for ourselves at least!

9 posted on 03/17/2006 6:44:46 PM PST by Sen Jack S. Fogbound
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To: Sen Jack S. Fogbound

Hey. This guy really thinks it's Bush's fault. No joke.


10 posted on 03/17/2006 6:47:01 PM PST by nuconvert ([there's a lot of bad people in the pistachio business])
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To: nuconvert
Iraq is now a magnet for jihadists.

More like a roach motel; they check in but they don't check out!

11 posted on 03/17/2006 6:50:00 PM PST by JimRed ("Hey, hey, Teddy K., how many girls did you drown today?")
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To: nuconvert

There's one good point in this article:

If you talk big don't expect the other guy to just sit on his hands and do nothing.

That said, I'm pretty sure we can back up the big talk.


12 posted on 03/17/2006 6:51:16 PM PST by mc6809e
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To: nuconvert
In plainer language, the bomb is the symbol of maturity in the world today. Nations that have the bomb are treated as grown-ups.

Most nations with the bomb in this world act like adults and don't say they want to wipe another nation off the face of the Planet because of the Jews.

As soon as Iran has the bomb it will use it just to kill as many Israelis as it can and will thumb it's nose at the UN sanctions it receives afterwords.

13 posted on 03/17/2006 6:51:49 PM PST by usmcobra (I always sing Karaoke the way it is meant to be sung, drunk, badly, and in Japanese)
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To: usmcobra

Hell, the UN might nominate Iran for the Human-Rights chairmanship if they nuke Israel!


14 posted on 03/17/2006 6:54:18 PM PST by Sterm26 (Death before Dhimmitude!)
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To: nuconvert
Now, lets see....They take Americans hostage for over a year...They murder hundreds of American Marines in Lebanon...They murder American Diplomats...And Bush is NOT allowed to call them enemies???

What the Fck ...
15 posted on 03/17/2006 6:54:47 PM PST by forYourChildrenVote4Bush (Democrats need to shower)
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To: nuconvert

Bush has set them up the bomb.


16 posted on 03/17/2006 6:56:21 PM PST by SquirrelKing (Contrary to popular belief, America is not a democracy, it is a Chucktatorship.)
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To: nuconvert
In other words, had Bush done nothing in Afghanistan and Iraq, Iran would not be a threat. Amazing the results that can be wrought by inaction.
17 posted on 03/17/2006 6:56:31 PM PST by luvbach1 (Near the belly of the beast in San Diego)
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To: nuconvert

Dick Reeves is an idiot. Iran has been trying to get the bomb for over 30 years. The only lesson they have learned from the UN is to buy off the Security Council or stall for more time... which seems to be working.


18 posted on 03/17/2006 7:02:04 PM PST by operation clinton cleanup
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To: My2Cents
"Iran wants the bomb to wipe Israel off the map."

Yeah, them Jews are just taking up so much space:

19 posted on 03/17/2006 7:05:02 PM PST by the anti-liberal (Hey, Al Qaeda: Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent)
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To: operation clinton cleanup

please see post #8

:~ )


20 posted on 03/17/2006 7:07:16 PM PST by nuconvert ([there's a lot of bad people in the pistachio business])
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