I think the concern about Iran getting nukes is complete bullshit.

[cali]

Even if they did get them, so what. Do I want more nukes in the world? Of course not, but the hysteria around Iran getting them is absurd.

Fuck anyone opposing Obama's deal.

[arcane1]

1. Are you saying Iranians are NOT suicidal maniacs who want to die after launching one nuke????

You need to turn that TV back on!!

[cali]

2. yep. crazy isn't it?

[ladjf]

3. That made me laugh. Thanks. nt

[XRubicon]

14. I hear they have drones that could reach us in 30 minutes

And they took babies out of incubators, and a small bottle filled with something white could kill everyone... Yeah... It's true. We need to attack them before they attack us. They hate our freedom. Why do you hate America? Uummm... Mushroom cloud.

[panader0]

4. What about N. Korea?

Don't they already have a dozen or so? Where's the huge outrage?
The Iran treaty is by far the best option available. The US would be hung out alone, with a small bit of sanction leverage
if the deal is scuttled. The other nations are going through with the deal.
Sometimes I just don't understand the lust for war.

[BillZBubb]

5. It's OK to have concern. The fanatical hysteria is the problem.

If Iran gets a nuclear weapon that is bad, but it is hardly an existential threat to the US, in fact its not much of a threat at all. It is certainly not worth starting another war over. But, like prior to the Iraq invasion, hysteria always seems to win out. The right wing knows how to fan the flames.

[Hydra]

6. Thanks for saying it

While I don't think nuke proliferation is good, the idea that it's ok for some people to have nukes(Looking at you Israel), and it would be disastrous if others had them is absurd. That, and the US does NOT invade or even threaten to invade countries that have nukes, which is probably why they were thinking hard on getting a bomb in the first place.

Not seeing where our previous approach helped anything.

[zipplewrath]

7. Hysteria no

Concern is legitimate, but the hysteria is a bit over the top.

There is a real arms race going on right now in that region and this would exacerbate that. That said, Pakistan/India was near the beginning of that race.

There is the concern that a state sponsor of terrorism like Iran could use it as cover to prevent retaliation for any terror strikes to which they were linked.

There is also the concern about them then "sharing" the capability with others, especially in the region.

[m-lekktor]

8. I agree. nt

[GoneFishin]

9. It's an ideological thing and a need for another boogie man to justify defense spending. Also,

the possibility has been floated that if relations with Iran are normalized that documented proof of the October Surprise may surface from the Iranians.

[MisterP]

11. Reagan already had cocaine run to fund a group worse than ISIS (the Contras had the same population-

adjusted per-annum death toll but couldn't hold an inch of land), praised Saddam, the Taliban, and Pol Pot, armed Iran, legalized the undocumented en masse, and kiboshed machine guns on the streets: this won't make a dent in even the horse race

he was utterly despised by the party 1987-94 until the GOP decided to go rabble-rouser: and even then they were still more "cynical corporate front" than "WWII-Japan death cult"

[GoneFishin]

17. I see what you mean. But if I were one of the hostages, or a family member, I would consider

suing some of the individuals involved for prolonging my captivity. I don't think that they could make a strong argument that they were acting on behalf of the U.S. Government. They were basically private individuals conspiring with terrorists to hold some U.S. citizens hostage.

[stevenleser]

10. What I find pretty compelling is the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's opinion that it's basically a sin

to have nukes. This guy is all about his religion and in his opinion nuclear weapons are sinful to have.

You can't claim the Iranian's are fundamentalist kooks and scary and dangerous because of that and then discount a finding by their supreme religious leader saying nukes are against his religion and a supreme sin.

http://www.princeton.edu/irandataportal/laws/supreme-leader/khamenei/review-of-khameneis-fatwa/index.xml

[hifiguy]

12. I agree.

The Iranians, even Khamenei, are rational people, as were the Soviets back in the day, unlike Kim Un Cartman. He and the rest of the mullahs know thateven if they had The Bomb, any nuke delivered with an "Iran" return address would result in Iran being turned into a glass parking lot. And that is not something they want.

[XRubicon]

13. Indeed...

They can eat shit.

I will vote against anyone who opposes the deal.

[Comrade Grumpy]

15. But wait! They're also "destabilizing the region."

I hear this frequently and it is never challenged.

Let's see:

The US invaded and destabilized Iraq.

The Saudis, Turks, and Qataris ginned up a civil war and destabilized Syria.

The Saudis are too busy bombing Yemen to get around to bombing ISIS.

The Western powers destabilized Libya.

But we're supposed to worry about Iran destabilizing the region. Gotcha.

[Nye Bevan]

16. Yes. The Ayatollahs are in no sense batshit crazy religious fundamentalists

who hate everything about the West and cannot be trusted with nuclear weapons. I have no idea how this "Ayatollahs should not have nukes" thing got started.

[cali]

18. hysterical bullshit.

[Nye Bevan]

19. I mean, just because the Supreme Ayatollah chants "Death to America",

it doesn't necessarily follow that he means it in a literal sense. Let the guy have his nukes.

[XRubicon]

20. Yes it is a suicide cult

They just don't feel like committing suicide until they get one nuke, then... Then they will commit suicide. Those Ayatollahs don't care about worldly things like power and wealth. Who could argue with all the high ranking Iranian fundamentalist blowing themselves up? People just don't understand like we do..

[davidn3600]

21. The concern is that it sparks an arms race in the region

The Israelis of course already have nukes. But the Saudis may then start developing them (Saudi Arabia and Iran don't like each other and are fighting a proxy war right now in Yemen).

Then you got the issue of these countries having close relationships with terrorist organizations.

Why does it concern us? Because of oil and money. The oil market is global. Even though we aren't getting as much oil from the mid-east as we used to, there is a direct effect on supply. If a big war breaks out in the mid-east, there would be a massive disruption in supply which will send prices soaring.

[Comrade Grumpy]

22. The concern? It looks more like a party--for arms dealers and manufacturers.

And the governments who back them.

Here's page one results for a Google search of "US gulf states arms deal;"

Sale of U.S. Arms Fuels the Wars of Arab States - The New ...
www.nytimes.com/.../sale-of-us-arms-fuels-the-wars-o...The New York Times
Apr 18, 2015 - Soon, the Emirates are expected to complete a deal with General Atomics ... The United States has long put restrictions on the types of weapons that ... The gulf countries “do not represent a meaningful threat” to Israel, he said.

Gulf States Want US Assurances and Weapons in Exchange
www.wsj.com/.../gulf-states-want-u-s-assurances-an...The Wall Street Journal
May 2, 2015 - Leading Persian Gulf states want major new weapons systems and ... a nuclear agreement with Iran, according to U.S. and Arab officials.

US to speed up arms sales to Gulf after Iran deal: Kerry ...
news.yahoo.com/us-agrees-expedite-arms-sales-gulf-states-ker...Yahoo! News
Aug 3, 2015 - From Yahoo News: Washington has agreed to speed up arms sales to Gulf states, US Secretary of State John Kerry announced Monday after ...

U.S. Offers Billions in Arms to Ease Mideast's Iran Anxiety ...
www.bloomberg.com/.../u-s-offers-billions-in-arms-to-ea...
Bloomberg L.P.
Jul 8, 2015 - “In the short-term, a deal could actually boost the demand for arms.” Gulf states and Israel have said they wouldn't trust any pact forged in ...

US Agrees To Speed Arms Sales to Gulf states: Kerry
www.defensenews.com/.../us...arms...gulf-states.../3106071...
Defense News
Aug 3, 2015 - US Agrees To Speed Arms Sales to Gulf States: Kerry ... said Monday, following talks in Doha on their concerns over the Iran nuclear deal.

Iran: Next Battleground for Arms Deals? - Defense News
www.defensenews.com/...gulf...arms-deals/25764825/
Defense News
Apr 20, 2015 - Arabian Gulf countries are closely watching Iran's anticipated ... show its independence of the American political influence in the region, or even ...

Israel Objected to Arms Sale to Gulf States Following Iran Deal
www.haaretz.com › News › Diplomacy and Defense
Haaretz
Aug 3, 2015 - Objection was voiced to Secretary of Defense Carter during his Israel visit last week; official says U.S. does not see Iran as part of the solution in ...

After Vienna, Arabs, Israel seek massive conventional Arms ...
www.juancole.com/2015/07/vienna-massive-conventional.html
Juan Cole
Jul 28, 2015 - The United States is proposing to beef up the military forces of some of its close ... to see what U.S. conventional weapons they can get out of the deal. ... Even so, Gulf states and Israel are reportedly already lining up for more ...

U.S. Official: Israel Objected to Arms Sales to Gulf States |
jpupdates.com/.../u-s-official-israel-objected-to-arms-sales-to-gulf-states/
Aug 3, 2015 - Israel has expressed concern over the United States' plans to ship ... defense and expediting arms transfers with Gulf states following the deal.

German Politicians Against US Arms Deal for Gulf Region ...
www.dw.com/en/german...against-us-arms-deal...gulf-region/a-2711823
Saying that the Middle East's powder keg is already explosive enough, foreign policy experts for Germany's governing coalition criticized US plans for military ...

[H2O Man]

23. Recommended.

Sometimes, it's hard, trying to "read between the lines" and speculate on how you really feel about a given situation. (smile)

The idea that Iran, with one bomb, would attack Israel, with 500, is rather difficult to believe. Now, maybe if Dick Cheney told us that Iran was buying "yellow cake" from Niger -- oh, wait. That's been used as an excuse too recently.