Now that the British sailors are free...response?

[Enigma]

I can see Iran for what it is - a country full of nutters who are about to get nukes, and that really scares me.

As far as the government and Irans extremist community, this is true. However, by all accounts, the younger generation is almost pro western, and pretty disgruntled about the government in Iran, too. Theres an amazing contrast between the generations in Iran. Koppel did a very interesting program from Iran last year that portrayed this very well....

[baggygreen]

Well.. lets see. its happened twice now, and i'd be willing to bet a pretty sum that Iran have scored something out of it, something along the lines of a quiet concession in the sanctions against it, an eye turned blind to a shipload of something...

regardless, its happened twice. Chances are it'll happen again. So, you sink the Iranian ships, just as insurance. even better, sink their whole friggin navy!

The ultimate in gunboat diplomacy - you kidnap 15 soldiers, you lose 15 ships. that works for me

[ASWnut101]

Originally Posted by baggygreen

Well.. lets see. its happened twice now, and i'd be willing to bet a pretty sum that Iran have scored something out of it, something along the lines of a quiet concession in the sanctions against it, an eye turned blind to a shipload of something...

regardless, its happened twice. Chances are it'll happen again. So, you sink the Iranian ships, just as insurance. even better, sink their whole friggin navy!

The ultimate in gunboat diplomacy - you kidnap 15 soldiers, you lose 15 ships. that works for me

I think the Iranians don't even have 15 ships...

[baggygreen]

aww sh!t ay...


i know! make up the difference in anti-aircraft batteries!

[ASWnut101]

Originally Posted by Enigma

As far as the government and Irans extremist community, this is true. However, by all accounts, the younger generation is almost pro western, and pretty disgruntled about the government in Iran, too. Theres an amazing contrast between the generations in Iran. Koppel did a very interesting program from Iran last year that portrayed this very well....

Really, it's the total religious devide in the country that shows the difference, not nessecarely the age/generation. A friend of mine got back from Iran last year, and nearly all of the Persian (oldies and the children) populace are either afraid or angered by the government, while the Arab populace is more slanted twoards the Government (Anti-West Arabs). I've said it a million times, and here's once more: Persians hate Arabs. Arabs hate Persians. Arabs have control over the Persians at this moment, further inflaming the hatred between the two groups.

The friend also indicated that the Arab populace was much more violent, from muggings to kidnappings.


In all, if you were to attempt a war with Iran, siding with the Persians and then (somehow) instigating a revolution will cause the country to collapse on itself.