I throw a rock. You throw it back. I shoot you. Authorities Watch.

There are some true believers, but in Iran there is only one guy who can push the button. Will he push the button? You said in your next post highly unlikely. I think it's even less likely than highly unlikely. But I think he will only push the button is he is going to be murdered by external forces, and will not push the button if he is being attacked by internal forces.

The majority of Iranians would oppose it IMO. The majority of Iranians want peace, are far from extremist religious, and support a two-state solution over "anihilation" of Israel.

Sure many would die for their ideals, but what are their ideals? Where were their ideals when they killed thousands of their own Shiites with foreign mercenaries? Which ideals prevail in their case?

Your description of Shiites is spot on. Many Sunnis demonize them, and on the extreme Salafi side it's not unheard of to group them with Jews or a branch of Judaism. Many of those extremists allege that Shiism was started by a Jew to infiltrate Islam.

I disagree about the purpose of the deterrants. It was never a deterrant to a specific threat. Egypt was the excuse of that time, Iraq was next, and now Iran is at the podium. Israel could never use nuclear technology in the 70's to attack Syria without exposing the Israeli population to nuclear devastation and radiation, and without getting scores of Arabs marching into their territories from all sides. As we've seen with the only use of nuclear weapons ever, the devastation is not really containable. We both know borders are not real, they only exist on maps.

I can't really speak for leaders of Gulf States.

 

Thanks Deji. I don't believe they are capable of developing it, and I'm sure they won't be able to obtain it from the Allies. The policy is not to allow huge natural resources plus nuclear weapons within the same country.

Youtube recommended this to me yesterday, it's a few years old but extremely relevant:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fx1ldODma3E" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

Deji,

Regarding the article, I wonder about the guy's credibility, since he seems to be heavily linked to US gov, Obama admin and Israel, as well as splitting up Syria into a shell of its former self. Do you know much about him?