cascadian

Just wanted to add, that my biggest fear right now, is not Iran, but Pakistan. Musharaff is our ally (of sorts) but his long term viability is in question. They most definitely DO have nuclear weapons, but who will have them in 5 years is a mystery to me.

Also unelected governments are not a concern per se. The USSR and China providing excellent examples. Ironically, most people are concerned about Iran, but Ahmadinejad easily won an election that was about as free as it gets in the Middle East. So democracy is not a cure all, by any means.

The real fear is "irrationality". So far, it seems to me that no matter how totalitarian or obviously power-hungry the state is, in order for decision makers to obtain power in a country sophisticated enough to produce a nuclear bomb, they have to have a certain amount of pragmatism to them. There are no gaurantees with this rule of thumb, and the bar is dropping for sophistication, but it appears to be holding at the moment.

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"Fear is the mind killer."
~Bene Gesserit

Trajan Octavian Titus

Not with the current enemy, with them preemption is the only viable strategy, as they continiously tell us they love death more than we love life.

bhkad

I agree with TOT!

In addition, we must try to think like the Jihadists.

Ayatollah Khomeini's concern with Iran as a state was a formality. He said, "let this land (Iran) burn" as long as Islam emerges triumphant. Ahmadinejad is hoping the long dead 12th Imam will rise from the grave to usher out man's time on Earth and bring us all to Allah. There are people in the Islamic world who welcome death, as TOT said.

Do you understand this? Are you all reading this? How many times have these words been posted here and some of you STILL don't get it?

If you threaten Iran or any other Islamic state, group or individual with death but they welcome death how effective is the threat of death?

Not very.

Furthermore, trying to use nuclear weapons to eliminate the threat of Jihad is like bombing a coal field. There is no point in trying it as there will always be more coal even if the pieces are small it's still coal.

There are some people who say we should just nuke the problems into submission. And while that MIGHT eliminate the trained and organized conventional armies and maybe tens or even hundreds of thousands of people, it would energize and mobilize even moderate Muslims to become actively engaged in defeating us.

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But, when all is said and done, Senator McCain has not spent decades aiding and abetting people who hate America. http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell060508.php3

cascadian

OMG! You mean people are willing to kill and die for a cause, a religion even? I'm shocked! What will world do about this incredibly new and unique threat?

Trajan Octavian Titus

Be willing to die for a cause is quite different than seeking to die for a cause.

bhkad

I think the FIRST thing the world should do is to become informed about the enemy's size, motivation, goals, capabilities, tactics and the nature of their fight. If the world learns the facts about Jihad they won't be making suggestions about things they have no knowledge of.

Here's as good a place to start as any, I guess.

http://jihadwatch.org/islam101/

Sayyid_Qutbs_Milestones

Milestones - Sayyid Qutb

The Redhunter: Book Review - "Future Jihad" - Part 1: The Logic of Jihad

RightOfCenter

I was actually in London nine days before the 7/11 subway bombings. I actually rode the train that was bombed every night I was there. Scary stuff.

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The Jews killed Jesus and then tried to push blame off on the Romans. I blame the blacks.

cascadian

I know, and what's this about deliberately flying airplanes into things? I mean, who would have ever thought of that?

cascadian

Getting an education from Robert Spencer about Islam is akin to getting an education about the Holocaust from David Irving.

Trajan Octavian Titus

Umm that's kind of my whole point, MAD doesn't work with Islamists because they are irrational much like fascism of the past.