The irrationality of the West with respect to Iran is illustrated by the following facts:
đź“Ś Iran:
Does not possess nuclear weapons.
Is a party to the NPT (Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons).
-Allows IAEA inspections.
-Reports on the movement of enriched uranium.
-Under constant international pressure and sanctions.
-Declared a threat – only for the potential possibility of creating nuclear weapons.
đź“Ś Israel:
De facto possesses a nuclear arsenal (estimates: ~80-200 warheads).Did not sign the NPT.
Does not allow international inspectors.
Completely classifies the nuclear program.
Receives support and military assistance from the West.
Declared a “stronghold of democracy” and allegedly a victim.
In other words, Iran, the one country that does not have a nuke and is abiding by international law governing nuclear weapons, is the villain, while Israel, who is flouting those laws, is being treated as the victim. Yeah, that makes sense.
The full story has not been laid out in this article. Perhaps Johnson does not know it, but it is a very significant point.
Iran is the center of the Shi’a sect of Moslem beliefs. They believe that Imam Al-Mahdi, aka The 12th Imam, is still alive since he was last seen in a basement in Samara Iraq in about 836 A.D.
They believe that he will come out of his seclusion because Allah wants the Infidels and other non-believers destroyed for faithlessness by destroying the world.
When the 12th Imam shows up he will lead the world to establish a worldwide Caliphate that he will oversee along with 313 trusted and faithfully pure believers.
Ok, so here is why these Shi’a beliefs are to important: Iran today is a theocracy, a guvamint ruled by religious leaders. So the summarized beliefs laid out above are guiding principles of Shi’a beliefs. From that understanding, one will see that if your belief is that worldwide destruction will cause the 12th Imam to reveal himself and bring about Moslem nirvana, then the quicker you obtain a few nukes, the quicker you can bring forth the hidden Imam.
Westerners may think this is crazy. But it is the Shi’a way and by our ignorance of their ways folks just do not understand why nuclear power and Iran are a dangerous combination.
An old saying that I learned in the Army half a century ago: “It’s what you don’t know, but should know, that always bites you in the butt.”
Moslem beliefs need to be studied and known to better determine how they and we should interact.
Yep, all to true!!!!!
I disagree. Oil wars, hegemony of the West, Silk Road, 37 trillion debt, Blackrock engaging with BRICS – not a rapture coming – not Muslim verses Christian. Mammon! Money! Hegemony!
Let me know when jews fill the streets chanting “Death to America”, and your arguement might hold more sway.
But hey, Nazi’s were a fan of Moslems too, if that’s your thing.
The Jews danced in the street when we were attacked on 9/11. Does that count?
I dont want to sacrifice my kids or become re-activated for the Psychopathic Bastard Zionist that started WW3! You can see the Plan…Pathetic Controlled Trump(man of peace) commits to Middle East War leaving open Taiwan for China and then California Coast for (New-scum)Chinese invasion and then Russia attacks Alaska…do we have anything left in the Pacific? Look for the Nimitz to be sacrificed after all its cheaper to sink her and the crew than decommission.
I’ve seen a lot of videos of the destruction in Israel and Iran. It’s my humble observation that both sides could claim defeat right now. Doesn’t look like there is going to be a real winner there. Maybe the military industrial complex can claim victory.
To figure out who rules you, just look at who you are NOT allowed to criticize.
NO MORE WAR!! We don’t need the middle east or Israel.
One of the greatest issues we face today is mis-information, or incomplete information. Regarding the bullet points above, a couple of disagreements…
>>>[Iran] Does not possess nuclear weapons.<<<
Right. The entire idea of Israel’s attack was to prevent this.
>>>[Iran] -Allows IAEA inspections.<<<
I might direct you to the following article… one of many: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce3v6w2qr12o
From the article: “The global nuclear watchdog’s board of governors has formally declared Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in 20 years.”
Note… the BBC is not known for it’s support of Israel or President Trump.
>>>[Israel] Does not allow international inspectors.<<<
Right, as you said it, they did not sign the NPT. Why would they? They are the tiniest nation in the middle east, they are hated by all of their neighbors (along with a significant number of Americans), who have ALL attempted to destroy them. You don’t tell the pack of bullies that surround you with the intent of taking your life what you have hidden to defend yourself. Obviously everyone knows that Israel has nuclear weapons, and yet Iran (the religious cult leaders, not the citizens) has worked diligently (according to everything they have said themselves) to procure nuclear weapons for the explicit purpose of destroying Israel.
I understand you don’t like Israel or the Jews in general. A number of people on this platform agree with you. Perhaps it would be good to consider that Muslims hate all non-Muslims, whether they are Jewish or Christian or whatever. Furthermore, it is Muslim doctrine to subjugate, tax or kill all non-Muslims. So, we all have groups that we despise with a vengeance. I generally tend to dislike the people who have stated out loud, and in print, and have demonstrated the intent, to kill me and my family and my country. I don’t know for a fact that this includes the Jews. I DO know that this includes ALL Muslims.
It’s said that Trump listens to the last person he meets with–and this seems to be the case. Just which delegation of Neo-Con-Job artists hustled him Sunday evening? This decision is going to prove disasterous.
Tehran had a population of 8.6 million 10 years ago. Probably closer to 9, now.
And Trump is telling them to just “get out while they still can”?
Yeah. When I read that part of Trump’s statement, I just had to laugh. That’ll be the pretense that “we gave them fair warning” before bombing the hell out of the place. As if an evacuation on that scale is possible. I have no love for Iran or Islam at all, they are problem Inasmuch as their religious ideology demands our subjugation and destruction. But going in on this with Israel is not the way. Further, the US is not prepared to fight a big war anymore, and hasn’t been in many decades.
WWII was the last time we had a decisive victory over a peer opponent, and that came only with much assistance from Russia, which will not be on “our side” this time, especially as we keep antagonizing them with our aiding of Ukraine. Entering this now will likely get us spanked, to say nothing of opening us to terror attacks in US soil, and economic ruination to cap it all off. We are going to collapse anyway, but we don’t need to add the sting of a military misadventure that damages us even more in the process.
I have a simple question for the warhawks here. Nobody ever seems to be able to answer this one. One question.
1) How many American lives are you prepared to sacrifice to accomplish this task?
Give me a number.
I’ve posed this question (not here) to war hawks many times before when they were beating the drum to go fight somewhere. What’s funny is I’ve never gotten an acceptable straight answer. The implied – but never spoken – answer is something to the effect of “and I don’t care, as long as it isn’t me and mine being sacrificed on the battlefield”.
The problem now is that in this age of advanced weapons and tactics, including hacking and disabling critical systems like power and water distribution, or inducing mass scale crop failures with biological agents, the damage can brought directly to us on such a scale that the battlefield causalities will pale in comparison to the number of civilians killed. The war mongers are no longer just playing with mere fire, they are shaking up a drum of flash powder in the middle of a lightning storm while smoking a stogie.
Easy. Zero. Except I am not a warhawk, and neither is anyone else here. I guess that’s why no one answers your question. That in no way changes my mind about whether Israel has the right and responsibility to defend themselves, and, if necessary, sacrifice their own. You know, it’s more difficult to defend yourself after you’re dead.
Is this “Art of the Deal” v. 2.0?
“When negotiations don’t go your way, kill everyone you are negotiating with and start over.”