----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert Seeberger" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Killer Bs Discussion" <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, January 15, 2006 6:32 PM Subject: Re: Nuclear Iran
> I think too North Korea plays into this somewhat. > They had nukes, were part of the Axis of Evil, and were not invaded. > Iraq didn't and was. > I don't think this was missed by everyone, and now it may be seen as > desireable to possess nukes as a hedge against invasion by more > powerful nations. But, that was known for a long time beforehand...and there were many object lessons. A strong power is given leeway to operate in its own sphere of influence as it will. For example, there was no real thought of supporting Hungery in 1956: the Soviet Union was just too powerful. Clinton allowed North Korea to keep enough plutonium to make 1-2 bombs, even though he was pretty sure they had yet to build real weapons, because they had the conventional power to kill 100,000+ people in Seoul before they were overwhelmed. It is well established that the US will think twice about acting militarily against a nation that has the power to respond by killing tens of thousands of people...even if they are not US citizens. It's a lessen that should have been learned 50 years ago. If you look at Gulf War II, a nation that was 1 year or so away from an A-bomb (Lybia) gave up their weapons soon after it was over. Another country continued to develop programs that could lead to nuclear weapons. I'm not sure that we should neglect the retoric of the leader of Iran when he discusses eliminating Israel. It would take only about 3 weak A-bombs to eliminate Israel as a viable entity (Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Jerusalem.) Although Israel has a viable second strike capacity, I'm not sure that the leader of Iran really understands what that means. I hope he does. Every time there is proliferation, we roll the dice one more time. I find it discouraging that some countries, China and Russia, are playing this for a short term advantage. It's almost as though they are counting on the US to ensure that the world will be OK. Dan M. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
