Iran has a population of 70 million, and Tehran has over 10 million. what percentage of that is 300,000 ? only 3% !!!! so you want to punish 97% of Iranians, for the actions of 3% ?
I don't want to punish the 97%... I want anyone who advocates, supports, or performs terrorist actions to be punished. Iran has been given a 'free pass' (see post #30) for quite some time... thanks to those Islamic militants who murdered 3000 American innocents, our temperance is at an end.
by the way, the islamic regime is NOT the legitamate representative of the Iranian people. They usurped power by forcing Iranians to vote for them in an non-secret ballot referendum - Iranians had to vote yes (green card) or no (red card), while the armed islamic guards were watching. would you dare to hold a red card in your hand ?
Thank you for the great history lesson. When was that? Also, why aren't there any revolts or a nation-wide rebellion? (Easy for me to say, I know, because our Forefathers made that huge sacrifice for us a few hundred years ago.)
if the US and Europe weren't so greedy over oil, they would kick the islamic regime out of the United Nations, put them under total trade sanctions, and give support to the democratic movement of the Iranian people.
The UN is NOT America's friend, and will never again be a forum for America to exert authority. Our one vote carries as much weight as Sudan's. Most of the member nations want to go in a different direction than the US, and they've learned that once we're out-voted, we've lost most of our mandate to lead... and kicking anyone out is close to impossible. And as for supporting the democracy movement in Iran, I guarantee you that almost everyone on this forum does, and I would certainly expect any American move against Iran to involve some HEAVY contributions and cooperation going to your groups! (Did you notice that the dissident factions in Afghanistan were basically just handed the entire nation? I would think that this would cause you to encourage a US move against Iran!)
the arms industry in the US must make money, so Bush increases the "defence" budget, and makes the companies that build airplanes and smart-bombs happy... well, as long as the islamic regime is occupying Iran, they can buy cheap oil, and sell weapons to the mullahs.
Ensuring that American industries are strong is certainly in the best-interests of America, no matter what they manufacture. I will agree with you that our government can go about that in some really insipid ways on occasion, especially domestically. However, our military contractors are a worthy and valuable asset. (Now if they could just stop selling us those $800 hammers)
As for 'cheap oil', I dare say that if the Islamic regime wasn't in power, oil prices would be lower. OPEC has done a remarkable job of controlling prices to their greatest advantage.
"I want anyone who advocates, supports, or performs terrorist actions to be punished"
and that would be the islamic rulers occupying Iran. the US can bring those people to justice by helping the Iranian democratic movement. The US media is too quiet on expsoing the crimes of the islamic regime. as soon as we went to war against the Taleban, US newspapers started talking about RAWA and Taleban's crimes against afghani women. Well the islamic regime occupying Iran has committed just as many heinous crimes. I have documented some of them on my web site. Instead of having "president" khatami come to the US and talk on TV (Charlie Rose), we should have leaders of the Student Democratic Movement, and leaders of the Iranian National Front come on TV and radio shows. If we take away the regime's legitamacy in the world, they Iranian people will take care of them themselves.
"When was that? Also, why aren't there any revolts or a nation-wide rebellion?"
The initial referendum was after the '79 revolution. the islamists usurped power by force, and coerced the population to vote for the islamic government. all of their so-called elections are non-democratic: the clerics select and approve the candidates, and who knows how they count the votes.
There have been many uprisings and revolts, but they have all been put down with viscious and savage force. In 1999 there was a huge student uprising, but the regime's Lebanese and Palestinian militia-men, combined with their Iranian police force, crushed the uprising, and many of the students were imprisoned and tortured. They are still locked up.
"Did you notice that the dissident factions in Afghanistan were basically just handed the entire nation? I would think that this would cause you to encourage a US move against Iran!)"
Iranians are fiercly independent. They do not want anybody, especially not the US, to meddle in their affairs. in 1953 the CIA overthrew Iran's democratically elected President Mohammad Mossadegh, and brought back the dictator Shah. That's because the US and its European allies don't want to see democracy and independence established in Iran (or Afghanistan or Iraq). You never see the US or Europeans support democratic groups, only former kings and warlords and tribesmen, etc. Like I said before, why doesn't the American media give interviews to leaders of democratic movement in Iran, instead of the the son of the former Shah ? So any way, Iranians don't want to see the US do a repeat of 1953. All they want, is for the "free" world to stop legitamizing the criminal islamic regime, and they will overthrow it by themselves.
"Ensuring that American industries are strong is certainly in the best-interests of America, no matter what they manufacture"
Except that weapons are not like fruits or software. weapons are intended for killing people, and the only way they can have demand, is for there to be wars. So the US intentionally starts wars in various parts of the world, in order to create demand for the weapons its companies produce. if there was peace in the world, lockhead and martin-marietta would go broke ! and since those are usually heavy contributors to the election campaign of someone like Bush, he makes sure that he rewards them by starting a war or two, so that the US government can then use tax payer money to hand over to the arms manufacturors. Europeans are also helping their weapons manufactorors, by supporting the Iranian regime. you can't sell weapons, unless people kill each other. if people aren't killing each other, you have to incite wars between them. that's what you have things like cia and mi6.