Deterrence isn’t a concern for a culture that encourages suicide bombers. And do you honestly think that Obama will nuke Iran if Iran nukes Israel?
I think he’d throw a party.
The nutcases and dead-enders who become kamikazes wouldn’t get control of Iran’s nukes. The ayatollahs would, and SOBs though they are, they don’t harbor a desire to turn their country into a massive suicide bomber. Obviously though we can’t let undeterrable non-state actors like al Qaeda acquire nukes though.
I realize it’s an unorthodox view, but I’m sanguine about even bad states going nuclear, since deterrence has a 100% track record in preventing the use of nuclear weapons — even super crazy North Korea’s nukes!
As for your question whether I think Obama would nuke Iran if it nuked Israel, yes, I do. Though he wouldn’t do it out of conviction, he’d do it out of political necessity.