I don't trust either of those nations....... http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100813/ap_on_hi_te/iran_nuclear
For them the Cold War never ended. Make no mistake, they view us as an enemy to be defeated and will get in bed with the most unsavory of elements to make life difficult for us. Russia's economy is still a mess. If I were the President, I would start leaning on them with economic sanctions and make life difficult for them domestically. Until Putin can behave, he doesn't deserve a seat at the table of the community of nations.
I think the sad part is that a majority of Iranians would like to be our allies and wish the Ayatollah was disposed.
Russia has barely begun to tap their vast natural resources, while we have already consumed or contaminated the bulk of ours. We need them far more than they need us.
Agreed. One totalitarian regime was replaced with another. I look forward to the day when the Iranian people can throw off the yoke of dictatorship and become a democracy. The ruling mullahs know with democracy succeeding in Iraq and the US working hard to make sure it has a chance in Afghanistan, they're in trouble.
I can't say with 100% certainty that the majority of Iranians want to be our allies. Sure, they'd like to be rid of the Ayatollah (and the ultra conservative "government") and they'd like more everyday freedoms, but that doesn't equate to allying with America.
It's Pakistan that scares the shit out of me. They're not our allies. They've been caught selling nuclear secrets to other countries and individuals. They're government is very unstable. I could go on and on. But the good news is that once again we're going to give a bunch of money to them so we can "burnish the United States’ dismal image there." http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/15/world/asia/15pstan.html I'd rest a little more easily if they truly feared us vs liking us. That country is headed for civil war and their nukes will be up for sale to the highest bidding terrorist organization. But they're our allies so I'm sure we'll jump into the middle of it and send troops to support the leaders and generals currently accepting our money.
Iran is much more western than our other allies like Saudi Arabia & UAE. If you consistently label and portray a person or country as being one of the most evil on the planet they will usually find a way to live up to those expectations.
1. Russia was and continues to be an absurdly polluted strip mine. 2. Good and detailed but long article on Israel's view of the necessity of bombing Iran. 3. Good and somewhat scary view of the people running Iran.
Oh, please. We have plenty of natural resources. In fact, we have more oil in the United States than Saudi Arabia does. Our natural resources are incredible, and all you have to do is get outside the cities and drive across this great country in order to see them on full display.
We only have more oil if you include oil shale which we have yet to find a process of removing the oil from the shale that didn't use more energy in the process then it produces. Also I personally believe that we should drain the rest of the world first before tapping our reserves. That's why I didn't understand the Iraq war, we should have just taken over the oil fields and left Baghdad and Saddam alone.
I took a class on the Middle East at PSU a couple terms ago. VERY interesting class, coupled with another class on world religions. I think a large number of Americans know very little about the Middle East, or why things are the way they are over there. Personally I think we went into Iraq as some sort of modern crusade. Not a religious one necessarily, but a crusade of democracy. We still have a strong desire to implement democratic government across the globe, and the Middle East is one of the last places to resist. I don't think it had much to do with oil or WMDs. We went into Iraq to establish a foothold. Afghanistan was a knee-jerk reaction to 9/11. We went there because we had to kick someone's butts for all the people who were killed. Americans demanded it.
People don't scare me, whatever their beliefs. Countries/Nations even less. Whether through nuclear bombs, or the more likely and already happening nuclear plant meltdowns and the non-disposable nuclear waste they create, nuclear energy will most certainly be the death of us all.
Afghanistan, IMO, was not a knee jerk reaction. The Taliban was given the opportunity to hand over Bin Laden and Al Queda and they did not. We removed them from power, sent Bin Laden scrambling and then should have gotten out. A message needed to be sent to the world, fuck with us and you will feel our wrath! Now as far as staying around and trying to turn Afghanistan and Iraq into democracies, that is a huge mistake. Democracy has to be earned and wanted by the people. You can't force it on them. We gave the people in Iraq and Afghanistan the opportunity to choose that type of government for themselves but they should also be allowed to have any kind of government they want. Not our decision, not our choice. They just need to know that if they fuck with us again we'll take that government even if it just happened to be a democracy.
It is a myth that the US is interested in spreading Democracy throughout the world. The US is interested in instilling and supporting far-right dictators and despots throughout the world, and has done so numerous times. As bad as some Americans may feel Iran's leaders are, they seem like the ACLU when compared to the oppressive regime of the Shaw of Iran we supported and armed for years. When Iranians think of American involvement in their political development, they think of the murderous Shaw and his reign of terror.
The opposite of the truth. I remember the newspaper headline that Afghanistan was offering bin Laden to avert US invasion. Nexr day, Bush said, it's too late. He was a bloodthirsty monster. He loved war.
