DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post - Israeli State-Sponsored Terrorism

**gooseCile** · 12-30-2008, 03:34 AM

It seems to me that your point was that the violence in Gaza would induce other countries in the region to develop nuclear weapons

That is my concern.

So if Iran is already afraid of Israel's military vis-a-vis threats against its own nuclear program, what does violence in Gaza have to do with it? Because logic dictates that every out-of-proportion response by Israel will only serve to increase Iran's determination (and diplomatic justification) to obtain nuclear weapons and lessens the hope that it can be avoided without military conflict.

And why assume that Iran is developing nuclear weapons as a defensive deterrence? It's just as likely that it would be used to intimidate its neighbors. That could very well be a strategic goal of Iran's, but they will use "defense/deterrence in the face of Israeli threats/aggression" as their official reason for going about it. Russia, the EU and others, will be more likely to consider allowing a nuclear Iran if Israel continues to overflex its muscles in Gaza and the West Bank.

I'm no fan of the Iranian government and I believe it's essential that Iran does not get nuclear weapons. I also think there is way to go about it and that involves Israel striking a deal with Palestinians. As it stands now, Israel will never settle on a deal acceptable to the Palestinians (full return to pre-1967 boundaries) because they know they don't have to. If we were to suddenly suspend our annual $10 billion subsidy to the IDF, maybe Israel would consider such a deal, but the AIPAC guarantees that such subsidies will never be diminished - not in the forseeable future.

So, Israel will be free to keep choking out the Palestinians, the Jihadists groups and despotic Middle East governments will use that suffering in Palestine as a way to stoke rage and maintain power, that rage will make it the top priority of many thousands of young, smart and able zealots to acquire a nuke and set it off in the back of a truck on Broadway one sunny morning.

It'd be nice to avoid that and one piece of the puzzle is putting a check on Israeli responses like this.

12-30-2008, 03:34 AM	#39
gooseCile Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 563 Senior Member	It seems to me that your point was that the violence in Gaza would induce other countries in the region to develop nuclear weapons That is my concern. So if Iran is already afraid of Israel's military vis-a-vis threats against its own nuclear program, what does violence in Gaza have to do with it? Because logic dictates that every out-of-proportion response by Israel will only serve to increase Iran's determination (and diplomatic justification) to obtain nuclear weapons and lessens the hope that it can be avoided without military conflict. And why assume that Iran is developing nuclear weapons as a defensive deterrence? It's just as likely that it would be used to intimidate its neighbors. That could very well be a strategic goal of Iran's, but they will use "defense/deterrence in the face of Israeli threats/aggression" as their official reason for going about it. Russia, the EU and others, will be more likely to consider allowing a nuclear Iran if Israel continues to overflex its muscles in Gaza and the West Bank. I'm no fan of the Iranian government and I believe it's essential that Iran does not get nuclear weapons. I also think there is way to go about it and that involves Israel striking a deal with Palestinians. As it stands now, Israel will never settle on a deal acceptable to the Palestinians (full return to pre-1967 boundaries) because they know they don't have to. If we were to suddenly suspend our annual $10 billion subsidy to the IDF, maybe Israel would consider such a deal, but the AIPAC guarantees that such subsidies will never be diminished - not in the forseeable future. So, Israel will be free to keep choking out the Palestinians, the Jihadists groups and despotic Middle East governments will use that suffering in Palestine as a way to stoke rage and maintain power, that rage will make it the top priority of many thousands of young, smart and able zealots to acquire a nuke and set it off in the back of a truck on Broadway one sunny morning. It'd be nice to avoid that and one piece of the puzzle is putting a check on Israeli responses like this.
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