IRAN - What would you do?
POSTED BY: Jongsstraw
UPDATED: Wednesday, January 8, 2025 06:49
VIEWED: 6354
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Congrats! You're the President. What do you do to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions? How do you handle Iran's defiance to the world?
Blockade?
Sanctions?
Attack?
Nothing?
I don't have an answer. I only know that any of the above can have dire consequences. I know that if there is some kind of attack, either by Israel or the US, that our economic way of life will be forever changed. Oil could soar to $200 per barrel, giving us $10 gas or worse. That would just about put the final nail in the economic coffin in this country. Blockade them and we risk the same economic results. Do nothing and we risk nuclear and/or dirty proliferation by terrorist components aligned with Iran.
So what would you do? And what would you do if you got that 3:00am call from Israel saying they've run out of time and have to act now?
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I have little doubt that what we're doing with Iran is the same thing the Reagan White House did with Pakistan: Blather on incessantly about how "we won't allow this to happen", all the while turning a blind eye (and occasionally even giving tacit support and aid) to their activities, so long as they claim to be helping our efforts in the area. With Pakistan, it was their alleged "help" equipping the Mujahideen against the Soviets. With Iran, it's their help against Iraq, and possibly against the Taliban.
Quietly letting them acquire nuclear weapons while feigning outrage about it in the press is the price we pay for their "help". If you ask me, we're paying far too much, but I have my doubts that we can really STOP Iran from getting nukes if they really want 'em. Seems a waste to build their own, though, since they could likely buy 'em for a whole lot less from some other cash-strapped nation (I'm lookin' at you, Pakistan. And Russia. And Georgia. And Belarus. And so on...)
Mike
Work is the curse of the Drinking Class.
- Oscar Wilde
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Australia is next
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Kwko, isn't there a significant difference between Iran of today versus Pakistan of 30 years ago? The President of Iran and the religious mullahs are Holocaust deniers. They call for Jihad against the West. They have threatened time and again to wipe Israel off the map. They have also threatened all Western nations. They have armed and trained militias in Lebanon and Palestine. They also pose a big security threat to friendly-to-the-US Arab countries. I do not recall Pakistan being in the same category as that.
So I'm wondering what people here would do if they were the President. It may come down one day to a question of life and death of the civilized world. What are you going to do as President? That is the question.
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Ya wait, ya talk , ya try to discourage them, even though ya now it won't work.
They won't be a threat to the USA, the real USA, the ( continental) USA, for quite a few years. Yes, they can be a threat to US interests and activities in the Middle East, and can thwart our actions in that area, and could attack our embassies and facilities in other countries. But that raises the question of whether we should be in those countries or not, whether we have a right to meddle ( River's word, remember?)there. And it raises the question of our relationship with those other countries, and of Iran's relationship with them. If they bomb the US embassy in Saudi Arabia, and kill a million Saudis, will the Saudi government not clobber them?. Or will the Saudis cheer, glad of the price but happy to see Americans killed?
And yes, they will be a very real threat to Israel, but the Israelis are quite capable of taking care of themselves. And if we get that 3 AM call from Tel Aviv, the only answer is, " Do what you gotta do."
Not sayin' they won't be able to kill lots of folks, not even sayin' they won't do it, just that the US is big enough, strong enough, to take it and give it back 1000 times over.
Only other option is to build a mock city in the Arizona desert, with mosques, and invite some Iranian diplomats to be nearby while we set off a 100 megatonner ,then remind them that we have lots of those, and put them on the phone to Tehran.
I think I know what their future intentions are, but you can't act on that. You have to wait until they actually do something.
America cannot, morally, be the world's only policeman, not without conquering and ruling the entire place. If the other local folks don't want to stop Iran, which is a bigger threat to any of them, it's not our job.
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Quote:
So I'm wondering what people here would do if they were the President. It may come down one day to a question of life and death of the civilized world. What are you going to do as President? That is the question.
First thing I'd want to know is: "what do they want?" And by that I mean in all aspects, not just materials - at the core of their world image, what are the Iranian PTB looking for?
What do we have that they want?
Then I want to know what mutual allies we might have and what they could use. And then I want to know who their direct enemies are... etc etc.
I want to know what all the levers are first.
Threats, sanctions, those seem to backfire and get the opposite response, so I'd rather do some good ole Old World Bazaar trading and haggling if I can.
Scifi movie music + Firefly dialogue clips, 24 hours a day - http://www.scifiradio.com
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Quote:
Originally posted by Jongsstraw:
Congrats! You're the President. What do you do to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions? How do you handle Iran's defiance to the world?
Blockade?
Sanctions?
Attack?
Nothing?
The best option is to embargo gasoline shipments. Despite their large amount of oil, Iran has no refining capacity. This would cause the immediate collapse of their economy. Military action would be limited to sinking the Iranian Navy, destroying their Air Force, and bombing their surface to surface missile bases using our stealth aircraft. Losses would be minimal on our side.
That was the best option, but my own option would be different.
What would I do? I would assist Iran. They want nuclear weapons, I say why not help them out. Seems that the best way to teach someone something is to demonstrate it for them. Naturally we'd need to do the demonstration at their nuclear facility, so they can best monitor the process. A mid-sized device, say 50 kilotons, detonated right on top of their nuclear facility should teach them everything they need to learn...if not, I'd be perfectly willing to schedule as many additional demonstrations as they need.
H
"Hero. I have come to respect you." "I am forced to agree with Hero here."- Chrisisall, 2009.
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Quote:
Originally posted by NewOldBrownCoat:
Ya wait, ya talk , ya try to discourage them, even though ya now it won't work.
They won't be a threat to the USA, the real USA, the ( continental) USA, for quite a few years. Yes, they can be a threat to US interests and activities in the Middle East, and can thwart our actions in that area, and could attack our embassies and facilities in other countries. But that raises the question of whether we should be in those countries or not, whether we have a right to meddle ( River's word, remember?)there. And it raises the question of our relationship with those other countries, and of Iran's relationship with them. If they bomb the US embassy in Saudi Arabia, and kill a million Saudis, will the Saudi government not clobber them?. Or will the Saudis cheer, glad of the price but happy to see Americans killed?
And yes, they will be a very real threat to Israel, but the Israelis are quite capable of taking care of themselves. And if we get that 3 AM call from Tel Aviv, the only answer is, " Do what you gotta do."
Not sayin' they won't be able to kill lots of folks, not even sayin' they won't do it, just that the US is big enough, strong enough, to take it and give it back 1000 times over.
Only other option is to build a mock city in the Arizona desert, with mosques, and invite some Iranian diplomats to be nearby while we set off a 100 megatonner ,then remind them that we have lots of those, and put them on the phone to Tehran.
I think I know what their future intentions are, but you can't act on that. You have to wait until they actually do something.
America cannot, morally, be the world's only policeman, not without conquering and ruling the entire place. If the other local folks don't want to stop Iran, which is a bigger threat to any of them, it's not our job.
We seem to be the only power that does consistently stand up for these things. I grew up all my life kind of proud of that heritage, but one does have to temper that attitude in the face of the reality of today's world. European apathy has historically proven that "evil", for lack of a better word, cannot be stopped by appeasement. Lack of action in the early stages will lead to a larger, broader, and higher deadly toll in the inevitable aftermath of a final conflict. It always has, but maybe in this case it will not.
Thanks for giving a straight answer on Israel...you say they get the green light from President NOBC if they decide to attack Iran.
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Quote:
Originally posted by pizmobeach:Quote:
So I'm wondering what people here would do if they were the President. It may come down one day to a question of life and death of the civilized world. What are you going to do as President? That is the question.
First thing I'd want to know is: "what do they want?" And by that I mean in all aspects, not just materials - at the core of their world image, what are the Iranian PTB looking for?
What do we have that they want?
Then I want to know what mutual allies we might have and what they could use. And then I want to know who their direct enemies are... etc etc.
I want to know what all the levers are first.
Threats, sanctions, those seem to backfire and get the opposite response, so I'd rather do some good ole Old World Bazaar trading and haggling if I can.
Your reasoning is sound, but have you ever heard them wanting anything other than the death of Western civilization? If they were to say for example....America get out of the Middle East totally, and we will cease terror activities, I would certainly give that a try. Then you risk trusting them not to attack throughout the Middle East once we're all out. I hate the whole f'ing Middle East. I remember doing a 5th grade school project on Middle East conflicts...that was back in 1964!...nothing has really changed, only gotten worse.
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My answer ?
Not a goddamn thing - it ain't our country, and we've no essential "right" to tell them what to do, period.
We can make suggestions, but I doubt it would accomplish much, since when they make suggestions to *US* we interpret them as threats and throw a hissy fit, so unless they actually, yanno, invade us, which I don't see happenin, we should shut up, sit down and eat at our own damn table for once.
-F
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