Could bombing Iran push it to build the Bomb?
(Reuters) - Pre-emptive military strikes aimed at forcing Iran to abandon its nuclear activities may end up having the opposite effect: convincing the Islamic Republic's leaders they need an atomic arsenal to secure their hold on power.
That is the argument from those in the West and elsewhere who say the negative impact of an Israeli or U.S. attack would eventually outweigh any gains - pushing Iran towards a decision that Western intelligence services believe it has not yet taken.
"It is difficult to see a single action more likely to drive Iran into taking the final decision to acquire nuclear weapons than an attack on the country," the foreign ministers of Sweden and Finland said in an opinion piece in the New York Times.
"And once such a decision was made, it would only be a matter of time before a nuclear-armed Iran became a reality," Carl Bildt and Erkki Tuomioja added.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/03/28/uk-nuclear-iran-debate-idUKBRE82R12120120328
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