The_barBEARian said:
Mothra said:
The_barBEARian said:
Mothra said:
The_barBEARian said:
Robert Wilson said:
I'm generally pretty strong anti-interventionist. But not totally isolationist. I was against going into Iraq. Not enough of a real credible threat, no real tie to 9/11. Saddam's ego got him because he wouldn't admit what he didn't have. There are parallels here. But there are also sharp contrasts. Mullah terrorists with a long track record of threatening and harming not just their Zionist foils but also US citizens, in Iran and around the Middle East and the US. Also, more reason to be worried about Iran's long-term desire to develop nukes. Also, some reason to think the Persians have a deeper bench of options behind this regime than Iraq had behind Saddam. Still, if the Mullahs would give up their nuclear chase and show their cards, fine, we are all good. We can keep sparing them the ass kicking they've been begging for the last few decades. But if they won't, you can only make that mistake in one direction. We can live with a false positive. Can't live with a false negative. That combined with Israel as your dog of war ... about as good a combo as you're going to get. Take out the Mullahs' nuclear assets (which also requires taking out most of the rest of their military assets). Whatever happens next happens. Hopefully the Iranian people step up. Plenty of other people around the ME silently rooting for the Zionists to get rid of the Mullahs and simplify their lives. Will be interesting.
Israel is capable of dismantling Iran's nuclear capabilities without US involvement.
If they have 100% air superiority over Iran that they brag about, they can drop IDF troops onto Fordo and blow it up from the inside.
The only thing the American military can do that the IDF can't at this point is a prolonged military occupation with the goal of regime change.... I haven't seen anyone psychotic enough even on this message board to endorse such a catastrophically stupid idea.
There should be ZERO US involvement. There is no need to risk Americans lives.
Israel doesn't have our bunker busting bombs, but I generally agree that Israel can do it without US involvement. Which is why it's so odd that anyone has a problem with this exercise, if the US stays out of it.
I think it's merely people such as yourself borrowing trouble.
As I said, Israel can put IDF troops on the ground and assault Fordo the old fashioned way and once they have operational control over the site they can dismantle it.
They would probably take casualties but what are they expecting? Americans to do all the dying fighting a war they started without our consent?
So, again, per my post, if the US stays out of it, and Israel takes out a nuclear threat, then I remain unclear why you have any issue with this operation.
Are you merely speculating that we are going to put troops in harm's way?
I had a problem with it because:
1) I do not believe Iran was developing nuclear weapons. I think it was just another false Israeli pretext for removing Iran as an obstacle to the eventual goal of Greater Israel. I believe Iran was leaving the possibility open as deterrence against precisely what just happened last week until they got an satisfactory deal with the US.
2) There would be massive damage to the global economy. Oil prices have gone up 10% but so far its been less damaging than when Joe Biden stole the 2020 election
3) China or Russia could step in. Russia had a mutual defense treaty with Iran which I guess they decided to piss on. And after Russia, China gets most of their oil and gas out of Iran so from a strategic perspective it would make some sense for them to make a move to protect their supply chains.
4) Another massive refugee crisis like what was caused by our never ending wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that destabilized the region and led to the "Arab Spring" and culminated with the 2016 Syrian civil war.
As long the current status quo remains and Israel puts boots on the ground to finish the war they started and the US doesnt get involved I would say crisis averted and Trump played this as well as could be expected.
1) Well, what we do know is the IAEA found them to be in violation of the NPT. We know that they were enriching uranium far beyond what was necessary to power a reactor. We also know that they had unaccounted for nuclear materials, and had constructed secret facilities that the IAEA discovered after the fact. That's certainly very solid circumstantial evidence of a clandestine nuclear weapons program. Of course, it's always difficult to find a smoking gun in these situations, and you don't usually find out about the program until after they test a nuclear bomb (see NK). So, there is pretty solid evidence of a nuclear weapons program.
2) This just hasn't happened, and there's simply no evidence it's going to happen. Iran contributes little to the global economy, outside of being essentially a gas station for Russia and China. The spike in gas prices quickly subsided, and they are back down. So Iran could disappear from the map, and we wouldn't see more than a blip on the world economy's radar. This simply isn't a reasonable or valid concern.
3) Again, ain't happening. Russia let Syria go, and it will do the same with Iran, if push comes to shove. It doesn't even have the capability at this point, as it is bogged down in Ukraine. China never gets involved in military skirmishes like these. So once again, this simply isn't a reasonable or valid concern.
4) Likewise, there's just no evidence this happens. If the Mullahs get replaced with a democratic govt., the Iranian people - who loathe their leaders - will be dancing in the streets. The boon to their economy with sanctions finally lifted will be massive. So again, there's just no evidence whatsoever of some massive humanitarian crises.
Trump played this well from the get-go. This is going to be over in a few weeks, and Iran's ability to go nuclear will likely be no more. And the cherry on top of the cake is that it's possible that the people of Iran will finally be free.
And when it's over in a few weeks, without any US involvement, people like Tucker will need to be reminded of how they behaved like Chicken Littles based on nothing more than wild and ridiculous speculation.
I will try not to say, "I told you so."