2) Not all nations that have nukes are treated with more respect. Pakistan is case on point. It has been treated far worse by the international community since it tested its nuclear weapons. (and rightfully so)
Bullshit... Al Queda is headquartered in Pakistan... Have we invaded it yet?
No.. Are we talking about invading it? No.
Guess why?
Same reason India has not invaded over the territorial dispute. Nukes protect a nation from foreign incursion. Period.
3) You assume that the Iranian leadership follows the same form of logic you do. Religious fundamentalists who believe they are on a mission from God tend to have a logic all their own. Though I tend to agree that they are unlikely to just suddenly start nuking people out of the blue.
I assume no such thing... others assume that because they are not a secular democracy that they are illogical.
I assume folks will act in their own best interest... even religious folks ( not necessarily "nuts" just because they are religious)
No one guy in Iran has the keys to the nukes and no one guy will have. ( because they are not run by a despot) UNLIKE other middle east nations they did not fall into despotism nor monarchy after their revolution.... rather, they have shown a willingness to try and create a real government with ongoing democratic traditions.
And as to the US... the Reason Iran is making nuclear noises is because it WORKED for Korea... Did we invade Korea? No. DId we sanction them? no.
WE CUT A DEAL AND OPENED TRADE WITH THEM.
Yeah, that was an effective strategy... teach the world to get some nukes so that the US will talk to them...
4) Please rethink the notion that nuclear weapons stabilizes a nation that possesses them and causes stabilization in the region. That is reverse causation. Historically, it is only powerful nations, that are stable in the first place, that gain them. North Korea proves the fallacy in your thinking. No one bothered the DPRK for decades (if they wanted to live in their own little paranoid Stalinistic society, everyone was happy to let them, no matter how much they tried to provoke their neighbors) until the issue of the nuclear weapons program came to light in the early 90's. Tensions and regional instability have only increased due to the North Koreans wanting nuclear weapons.
I donlt have to rethink the evidence of historical fact.
Nations with nukes, even tinpot one, DONLT get fucked with.
Tinpot nations with nukes FORCE the US to grant concessions, come to the bargaining table and make deals... which is exactly what happened with Korea.
Nuclear weapons eliminated war between large nations. They are eliminating war between second world and third nations ( i.e. Pakistan and India have not come to nukes over their territorial disputes...)
Yes... nukes are scary...
what the hell is the POINT of a standing army if not to scare other nations out of even thinking about attacking you?
Nukes turn out to be the only weapon SCARY ENOUGH to actually dissuade folks from invading you.
OF COURSE nations want them.
IF Saddam had HAD one, he would still be in power today.
That lesson... the lesson of Kim Jong Il versus Saddam is not lost on the rest of the world.
5) Pakistan is a great example of a nation with nuclear weapons attacking another nation with nuclear weapons (India). Look up the Kargil War. Nuclear weapons in both Pakistani and Indian hands has not defused the Kashmir problem. It has only made the situation more dangerous.
Bullshit... Used to be real bloody battles fought over this slice of land... since both became nuclear states... mostly a few skirmishes and today? a situation of mutual dissent.. the exact same situation as the cold war in Europe.
No one could reasonably argue that if Pakistan and India were NOT both nuclear states that iut would be MORE peaceful between them over this issue.
6) Iran is not a working democracy, it is a theocracy. While the President is "elected" he first has to be approved by the Guardian Council, a religious body. No one may run for President or even for the legislature without their approval.
That is why IRan, and NOT Turkey, qualify as the first Islamic democracy.
And sorry... but we come pretty close in the US to being a Christian democracy... or would if the fundies here had their way...
So what? I am not saying Iran is the greatest thing since sliced bread... I am saying they have ELECTIONS... they
elect their legislators... their legislature actually functions... they DON'T have a problem with internal insurgencies, with tribal warlords nor with baathist demagogues.
They run their own damn country WITHOUT US aid, and they do so thru the rule of Law... no, not our law... and sure some Sharia comes into it...but THEIR version of Sharia is actually pretty modern compared to the Taliban... who, thanks to our incompetence, are taking back Afghanistan and positively LIBERAL compared with the wahabist Saudi monarchists who we seem to think are our best friends, but whose Madrassa based extremism is the REAL source of Al Queda terrorists.
In the past Presidential election they invalidated every moderate reformer, and left only conservatives and radical fundamentalists. They also invalidated most of the moderates running for the legislature.
Again... so what? its their system and its at least working... the REAL news is that their elections and their legislators are becoming MORE moderate and More liberal... and less extremist... and their Clerics are Far less extremist than the oens we are paying off in iraq... and they are, over time becoming Less of a force in the country.
With engagement... by improving the lives of Iranians thru trade ( as we do in china) the pressure of the IRANIANS to shuck off the shackles of religious control of government will GROW...
The younger generation in Iran is already pressing for less religious intrusion into civic life and the economy... and they are getting it.
Without the support of the people, the clerics have no power at all.
Lastly, Indonesia has a much better claim at being the Islamic world's (outside Turkey) first working democracy.
Again, unless the clerics have a say over government, it would not be an islamic democracy.
Indonesia is fighting against the islamification of its government.
