All of the authors below are former US State Department employees. They are now on the faculty of University of New Mexico, Albuquerque teaching in the field of social sciences.
I put a lot credence in their viewpoint.
John O
http://whirledview.typepad.com/whirledview...bomb_iran_.html
Friday, 14 April 2006
Don't Bomb Iran - Steal This Post
by Patricia Kushlis, Cheryl Rofer, Patricia Lee Sharpe, and Linda Durham
Don’t Bomb Iran
Bombing is wrong and would be counterproductive
Credible news reports indicate that the Bush administration is planning for a bombing campaign against Iran, possibly including nuclear strikes. However, nuclear weapons experts believe that Iran will need at least three years to develop nuclear weapons and more likely five to ten years. There is no imminent danger.
Iran has admitted to past violations, but current evidence suggests that Iran is in compliance with the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. An attack with conventional weapons would attract few or no allies and result in diminished non-military power for the US. First use of nuclear weapons, by the only country to have used them before, would put the US in major breach of longstanding international norms. America would become a pariah, a rogue nation, condemned and isolated by all.
Such strikes would be impractical as well as wrong. Military strategists have suggested that the US could avoid counterattacks from a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities if attacks on Iran's retaliatory capacity were launched simultaneously. Others believe that popular support for the Islamic Republic would crumble under such stress. They are mistaken.
Iran is not Iraq. It is more populous and intensely nationalistic. Despite strong political differences among Iranians, bombing Iran would generate a unifying patriotic response. The Ahmadinejad regime would be strengthened, and consequences for US policy throughout the Muslim world would be severe. Even crippled by air strikes, Iran could worsen the situation in Iraq and launch terrorist attacks on Israel by mobilizing Hezbollah and others. Unilateral US attacks on Iran might also cause turmoil in Middle Eastern oil fields, especially in Saudi Arabia, whose wells are located in heavily Shiite regions, and would enrage Shiite communities in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Lebanon and elsewhere. Demagogues would preach that the long expected US-led crusade had begun. The US would not be safer.
There is a better way to create a safe world. Iran, the modern seat of an ancient civilization, wishes to be respected in a world where leadership seems open mostly to nuclear powers. Iran must understand that bluster and threat won't lead to a place at the table. The US must also understand that bluster and threat won't stop nuclear proliferation. Multi-party negotiations with Iran are already under way, but the US should expand its Iraq-centered consultations into broader bilateral and regional security talks. Dealing wisely and patiently with the Iran situation will go far to restore the moral and intellectual leadership of US. Through cooperation, not fear, America can achieve a safer, stabler world and a more lasting peace.
Please feel free to use this post with your elected representatives or for public distribution.
Posted by Cheryl Rofer on Friday, 14 April 2006 at 04:22 PM
Full Version: Don't Bomb Iran
Welcome to the board, norami! This is a very nice first post, and I hope the first of many to come. This is a well reasoned and rational analysis of the situation regarding Iran and should be widely distributed. I will do my part in getting it started to all on my political distribution list. Let's just hope that cooler heads prevail and that Bush does not get his way on this one (if the nucalar first strike is what he desires).
From Sam's Forum at http://samsforum.netfirms.com/
When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and propelled us into World War II we thought beating the Japanese would be reasonably easy. We soon discovered that we were fighting an enemy that did not believe in surrender. We found that their beliefs prevented them from acting in a civilized manner. They were honored to be chosen to pilot a flying bomb into a ship. Or lay in a hole with a hammer in their hand next to an artillerey shell waiting for a tank to come by. When the tank was over the hole, the Japanese solder would hit the artillery shell with the hammer. The resulting explosion would disable the tank...and of course it would kill the Japanese solder.
We are now faced with an enemy whose beliefs prevent them from acting in a civilized manner. An enemy that feels honored to die for their cause. An enemy that does not believe in surrender.
Near the end of World War II we were faced with two choices, we could invade Japan with thousands of ground troops, and count our many dead. Or we could drop an atomic bomb and save countless American lives.
President Truman choose to drop atomic bombs on Japan rather than commit thousands of American solders to invade the Japanese homeland and loose countless American lives.
We need to learn the lessons of history if we are going to continue to exist as a nation.
Currently we are fighting an enemy that we can't drop a nuclear bomb on....or can we?
Iran is supplying arms and personnel to fight against us in Iraq, and they are developing nuclear bombs.
Every day our solders are being killed in Iraq. Isn't it time to take a lesson from history? The only thing these people understand is strength. We have already learned that we cannot reason with them. We cannot negotiate with them. They see negotiations as weakness. The Islamic radicals hate Isreal and they hate us for supporting Isreal.
We need to tell the world that we are tired of our solders being killed. We need to start acting like the most powerful country in the world. We need to drop a couple of nukes on Iran. Then whenever a terrorists blows himself up and kills innocent Americans, we need to drop a nuclear bomb on the city he grew up in, where ever that may be. That would kill his entire family, his neighbors, even his Mayor! This is what these people understand. This is the ONLY thing they understand.
We will NEVER win this war against terror unless we show these people that we are capable of inflecting major massive damage upon them. This is what they understand!
It only took two atomic bombs to finally get Japan to listen to reason. How many nukes would it take to get these Islamic radicals to finally decide that they cannot beat us?
When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and propelled us into World War II we thought beating the Japanese would be reasonably easy. We soon discovered that we were fighting an enemy that did not believe in surrender. We found that their beliefs prevented them from acting in a civilized manner. They were honored to be chosen to pilot a flying bomb into a ship. Or lay in a hole with a hammer in their hand next to an artillerey shell waiting for a tank to come by. When the tank was over the hole, the Japanese solder would hit the artillery shell with the hammer. The resulting explosion would disable the tank...and of course it would kill the Japanese solder.
We are now faced with an enemy whose beliefs prevent them from acting in a civilized manner. An enemy that feels honored to die for their cause. An enemy that does not believe in surrender.
Near the end of World War II we were faced with two choices, we could invade Japan with thousands of ground troops, and count our many dead. Or we could drop an atomic bomb and save countless American lives.
President Truman choose to drop atomic bombs on Japan rather than commit thousands of American solders to invade the Japanese homeland and loose countless American lives.
We need to learn the lessons of history if we are going to continue to exist as a nation.
Currently we are fighting an enemy that we can't drop a nuclear bomb on....or can we?
Iran is supplying arms and personnel to fight against us in Iraq, and they are developing nuclear bombs.
Every day our solders are being killed in Iraq. Isn't it time to take a lesson from history? The only thing these people understand is strength. We have already learned that we cannot reason with them. We cannot negotiate with them. They see negotiations as weakness. The Islamic radicals hate Isreal and they hate us for supporting Isreal.
We need to tell the world that we are tired of our solders being killed. We need to start acting like the most powerful country in the world. We need to drop a couple of nukes on Iran. Then whenever a terrorists blows himself up and kills innocent Americans, we need to drop a nuclear bomb on the city he grew up in, where ever that may be. That would kill his entire family, his neighbors, even his Mayor! This is what these people understand. This is the ONLY thing they understand.
We will NEVER win this war against terror unless we show these people that we are capable of inflecting major massive damage upon them. This is what they understand!
It only took two atomic bombs to finally get Japan to listen to reason. How many nukes would it take to get these Islamic radicals to finally decide that they cannot beat us?
QUOTE(Turley @ Aug 28 2006, 11:31 PM) 
It only took two atomic bombs to finally get Japan to listen to reason. How many nukes would it take to get these Islamic radicals to finally decide that they cannot beat us?
Problem; They actually want to die.
The way to do this is same way we should have done Iraq. Arm the living crap out of an insurgent force. Let them fight and die for their own freedom. Cheer from the sidelines and offer, openly, any support they need short of feet on the ground.
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