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Originally Posted by August
I can see your point Scandium, but if not the evil old US then who else would lead it? Canada maybe? France? China? Russia? Who? It seems to me that except for the US, nothing would be actually done about the situation at all.
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Nothing has been done though, August. Some U.N. inspections, a lot of threats and antagonism, a limited dialogue between Iran and France, Germany, and the UK but that's about it so far. I think it obvious that anything militarily is out still, leaving a lot of middle ground between that and "axis of evil" type speeches; unfortunately it could have had the most impact before last year when the hardliners came into power, only the US was more preoccupied with Iraq and drumming up support for its war there, at the expense of its own credibility.
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There was a time when the US, when dictating what other nations should and should not do, would lead by example. I guess in a way it still is... and others are getting the message loud and clear, especially when they compare the message to the fates of say North Korea vs. Iraq. Now pretend you're the leader of Iran, and the recipient of the exact same rhetoric aimed at NK and Iraq - whose fate would you choose?
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Any nation that would make such a simplistic assessment, ignoring Chinas huge role in the NK issue, would be making a big mistake imo.
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Iran is not as isolated as NK, and in fact much of there nuclear technology today, and support in the UN, comes from Russia. Would Russia intervene if the US attacked Iran? Nope. Like I said, the only absolute guarantee anymore of a nation's sovereignty and security are nuclear weapons, though for Iran it is gamble to continue trying to aquire them; but is it a bigger gamble not to? The ME is an unstable place, and there are already other nuclear powers in the region. Personally were I there I would want them.
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There is nothing irrational about not wanting your country turned into another Lebanon or Iraq. Peace does not necessarily buy you security, nor does democracy. Nuclear weapons, however, guarantee you security. The only thing that surprises me these days is that every nation on earth isn't pursuing them as fast as they can.
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What makes you think they aren't? Can you name any powerful weapon ever invented by man which wasn't pursued by anyone with the resources to do it? The bottom line here is that North Korea is somewhat contained both geographically and militarily, they know if they ever cause trouble China will flatten them, but a nuclear armed Iran, with it's present regimes finger on the button should scare the bejeezus out of everyone.
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We've had the technology and resources to build nuclear weapons for decades (and already make use of nuclear energy as well) but have never built any. In a similar vein, South Africa at one time was a nuclear armed power but voluntarily disposed of them and has remained nuclear free ever since. As to a nuclear armed Iran, sure it scares the hell out of me - but to them it provides a guarantee of security in a region where there is very little of it (and the irony that it is Iran which is responsible for much of the instability in the region is not lost on me, no).