Syria-Iran

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be.jazz

Guest
dominic said:
i think the issues are distinct only on paper.
The two are separate. Being a nuclear state does not mean you are arming terrorists with nuclear weapons (cf. Pakistan).

that is, the very same fear that bush exploited in attempting to justify the invasion of iraq (that saddam would arm osama w/ wmd) seems to have a much firmer basis in reality with respect to a nuclear iran arming hezbollah and other groups
Okay, let's say that that is true. Ask yourself this, though: would an Israeli/US attack, surgical or not, increase or decrease long-term radical Islamist desire to launch terrorist nuclear attacks? As you say, M.A.D is less of a deterrent when fighting suicide bombers, and we have seen that violent repression only increases the Islamist base.

again, it is not at all clear that a nuclear north korea is contrary to u.s. interests in the far east.
North Korea seems to me more trigger-happy than others, which is perhaps why the international community is letting the country starve to death?

but a nuclear iran would pose a direct challenge to u.s. primacy in the persian gulf
I'm not so sure about that. Would they be able to effectively fight against the US? Doubtful. Nuclear weapons don't make you all-powerful.

avoiding a u.n.-imposed sanctions regime could only be in the short-term interests of iran, the very short term.
Considering what they did in Iraq...

further, i doubt that most countries would be willing to participate in a sanctions regime against iran, given the debacle that was made of iraq . . . .
Possibly. If the IAEA gets to do its job, it might not have to come to that.
 

craner

Beast of Burden
Syria dun it!

Ooh! Surprise!

This is actually murkier than it looks.

I wish Mr Mehlis had postponed his report a little longer, and dug up more dirt. In a way, it's a slight let down.

So far I've heard two people tell me that Mossad whacked Hariri. And, my, weren't they clever, Mossad, faking General Ghazi Kanaan's suicide right under the noses of all 4 of Syria secret service branches.

Phew!
 

Leo

Well-known member
Is that as fucked up as the British media making a big deal of Assad's musical taste? It's like they're trying to turn him into a figure of fun when his thugs are committed mass atrocities. I expect better of the Grauniad, to be honest.

in fairness, that was just a sidebar to the main story about the emails, which goes into detail about military planning, iran's involvement and other serious stuff.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/14/assad-emails-lift-lid-inner-circle?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
I suppose the sheer frippery of a lot of what he's bought and downloaded is quite telling, given what's going on.
 

Leo

Well-known member
I suppose the sheer frippery of a lot of what he's bought and downloaded is quite telling, given what's going on.

and this

The emails appear to show how tens of thousands of dollars were spent in internet shopping sprees on handmade furniture from Chelsea boutiques. Tens of thousands more were lavished on gold and gem-encrusted jewellery, chandeliers, expensive curtains and paintings to be shipped to the Middle East. While the country was rocked by Assad's crackdown on dissent, his inner circle was concerned about the possibility of getting hold of a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II, or a new chocolate fondue set.
 

Local Authority

bitch city
i3evsg.png
 
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