Bush warns of WWIII if Iran goes nuclear

[Raineyrocks]

 Bush warns of World War III if Iran goes nuclear

Wed Oct 17, 11:45 AM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush said Wednesday that he had warned world leaders they must prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons "if you're interested in avoiding World War III."
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"We've got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel," Bush said at a White House press conference after Russia cautioned against military action against Tehran's supect atomic program.

"So I've told people that, if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon," said Bush.

US President George W. Bush speaks at a press conference in the White House briefing room in Washington, DC. Bush Wednesday warned Iran must be barred from nuclear weapons to avoid the prospect of "World War III," and dismissed suggestions of a US-Russia rift on the crisis.(AFP/Nicholas Kamm)

[les nessman]

    King George enjoys beating the battle drum. 

[Ogre]

Seems like a reasonable warning.  You don't think that if Iran drops a nuke on Israel that there won't be a war?

[alohamonkey]

Seems like a reasonable warning.  You don't think that if Iran drops a nuke on Israel that there won't be a war?

There is no evidence showing that Iran is trying to make nuclear weapons.  There is no evidence that, if Iran had nuclear weapons, they would drop them on Israel.  Bush is jumping to conclusions and putting all of us at risk.   

I was just listening to the Hillman/Mantown radio show on the way into work today and they were talking about this quote too.  It drives me nuts how motivated people are to enter into another war.  Iran, Russia, and China are slowly forming a coalition to prevent U.S. military action against Iran and our leaders and country seem oblivious to it.  Bush and his cronies just keep beating the war drum despite the fact that another war will bankrupt our country and decimate our military personnel. 

[Ogre]

I didn't jump to that conclusion based on the quote.  The quote seemed to say that IF Iran gets nukes, there will be WWIII.  I think that's true.  The head of Iran has stated very clearly that he wants to eradicate all of Israel.  I'm not making any assumptions about what should be done about it.  I'm not doing any analysis of the US sending troops to anyplace.  I'm just agreeing that if Iran gets a nuclear weapon, there is a reasonable probability that he will drop it on Israel and there will be a world war.

[EJinCT]

fearfearfearfearfearfearfearfearfearfearfearfearfearfearfearfearfearfearfearfearfearfearfearfearfear.... and more fear.    Just one more means of controlling people.

IME, the reality we focus on is the reality we create; so If I'm going to envision any hypothetical future, I will choose one that is positive.

[RattyDog]

Is there anyone here who is confused as to why the Arabs hate the Israelis so much?? If you;re confused, use the mighty power of google to help you understand that this conflict, was all started by a Zionist movement which, through thievery and sneakiness, tried to create a wholly Jewish state, that is what started this. The whole idea was based on a colonialist world view that the rights of the indigenous peoples already living there didn't matter. The Arabs' fighting against Zionism was not/is not based on anti-Semitism but on a (totally freakin reasonable) fear of the removal of their people. And it continues on today. I have absolutely no idea why we remain so invested in what happens in Isreal. It's none of our business, they aren't really in the right anyway and it is now going to creep up and become a real problem if Iran does decide to wipe them off hte face of the planet...like Captain Coo Coo Bananas needs a reason to go to war.

I don't care if Iran develops submarines that can travel underground undetected, I don't care if their evil, crazy president, stands on his head and throws feces at my face....we CANNOT have another war. We CANNOT have another war. Where do all of these people think we're going to get the money and bodies for this?? It's insane, we are in such bad shape on so many levels.

You know what I think is funny about this....if Iran does keep up it's Nuc Program and obtains nuclear power, they will be a thousand times more dangerous than Iraq ever was. HA! What a laugh. Spend years, money you don't have and more troops than you can part with on some phony war only to be completely ruined when you find yourself REALLY needing some protection from a real "mad man".

Ugh. It's so maddening. Just let the collapse come....they are just keeping up this "feed the war machine" bullshit...I wish they'd just let us collapse, because we're going to anyway...why do we put this off? The way our country acts puts us in more danger. Iraq didn't scare me, Iran doesn't scare me.....what does scare me just a *tad* is Iran, China and Russia deciding to stop pretending we're hot shit and tell us to "knock it off". I don't like that China...not one little bit. They are the ones, in all of this, who give me the shivers.

[alohamonkey]

I didn't jump to that conclusion based on the quote.  The quote seemed to say that IF Iran gets nukes, there will be WWIII.  I think that's true.  The head of Iran has stated very clearly that he wants to eradicate all of Israel.  I'm not making any assumptions about what should be done about it.  I'm not doing any analysis of the US sending troops to anyplace.  I'm just agreeing that if Iran gets a nuclear weapon, there is a reasonable probability that he will drop it on Israel and there will be a world war.

I really don't think Iran would nuke Israel for a few different reasons - #1 They know it would start WWIII.  #2 - They support the Palestinians and I'm pretty sure there would be nuclear fallout that would affect the Palestinian people.  #3 - From my understanding, Ahmadinejad didn't necessarily call for the death of every Israeli.  There is some speculation in the translation of his quote that he was insinuating that the occupying Israeli regime should be done away with.  From what I've read, it doesn't seem like he is intent on killing every Israeli citizen by dropping a nuke on them. 

Regardless, how would we be closer to WWIII if Iran got nukes?  We have nukes and we are the only country to have used them in combat.  I think this is another scare tactic to persuade the American people that we HAVE to enter into another war. 

[dalebert]

Israel has nukes and they would wipe Iran off the map. Israel is very capable of defending itself. Iran knows this. I suspect Bush and the neo-cons know this.

RattyDog is completely spot on. We are in such terrible shape, war with Iran just isn't an option. We should be following Ron Paul's advice on these things to the letter.

[kola]

did someone say fear? YES, I'm scared...very scared.





...of Bush and his gang of fricken nazis.




Patriot Kola

[LiveFree]

In my research for a paper I'm writing on Iran and their nuke program, the indication from one of the top analysts at the National Defense University, Kori Schake, is #1, they're gonna get nukes whether we like it or not, #2, Ahmadinejad isn't in charge of the military, the Ayatollah is, and #3, military force isn't possible or even advisable to dissuade them.  Further, the Russians are now getting involved.  Putin went to Tehran and basically said US military force against Iran is a bad idea.

The Russians are in the process of establishing hegemony in Central Asia and the Caspian area, and they don't want us messing with their energy reserves.  The Chinese get a lot of their energy from Iran.  They both sell weapons to Iran, including hypersonic anti shipping cruise missiles, Onyx and Sunburn, that can now be launched by air, land (and no, we weren't that successful hunting Iraqi SCUDS) and sea.  Now then, Iran sits right on the Straits of Hormuz, where something like 20% of all the world's oil passes by ship.  Can we say economic disaster if we get into a fight with the Iranians and they decide to attack shipping in the Straits???  Oil prices would shoot up, the Chinese would likely get pretty pissed, and I'd put money down on losing a few capital ships in the Gulf and the Arabian Sea to Iranian anti-shipping missiles.

Further, WTF are we going to do, occupy all of Iran and force a regime change???  We can't even sustain operations in Iraq with any hope of gaining control, we're losing control in Afghanistan, and we're generally over extending the Army and Marines.  This leaves only airstrikes as an option.

I think it's time we realized we can't just use military force to get our way, and that sometimes, people are going to do things that we don't like, but there's not a whole hell of a lot we can do about it.

[RattyDog]

In my research for a paper I'm writing on Iran and their nuke program, the indication from one of the top analysts at the National Defense University, Kori Schake, is #1, they're gonna get nukes whether we like it or not, #2, Ahmadinejad isn't in charge of the military, the Ayatollah is, and #3, military force isn't possible or even advisable to dissuade them.  Further, the Russians are now getting involved.  Putin went to Tehran and basically said US military force against Iran is a bad idea.

The Russians are in the process of establishing hegemony in Central Asia and the Caspian area, and they don't want us messing with their energy reserves.  The Chinese get a lot of their energy from Iran.  They both sell weapons to Iran, including hypersonic anti shipping cruise missiles, Onyx and Sunburn, that can now be launched by air, land (and no, we weren't that successful hunting Iraqi SCUDS) and sea.  Now then, Iran sits right on the Straits of Hormuz, where something like 20% of all the world's oil passes by ship.  Can we say economic disaster if we get into a fight with the Iranians and they decide to attack shipping in the Straits???  Oil prices would shoot up, the Chinese would likely get pretty pissed, and I'd put money down on losing a few capital ships in the Gulf and the Arabian Sea to Iranian anti-shipping missiles.

Further, WTF are we going to do, occupy all of Iran and force a regime change???  We can't even sustain operations in Iraq with any hope of gaining control, we're losing control in Afghanistan, and we're generally over extending the Army and Marines.  This leaves only airstrikes as an option.

I think it's time we realized we can't just use military force to get our way, and that sometimes, people are going to do things that we don't like, but there's not a whole hell of a lot we can do about it.

Every last word. Exactly. What a-holes we have been...stupid ones at that. The only thing I hate worse than a mean person, is a stupid mean person.

[alohamonkey]

In my research for a paper I'm writing on Iran and their nuke program, the indication from one of the top analysts at the National Defense University, Kori Schake, is #1, they're gonna get nukes whether we like it or not, #2, Ahmadinejad isn't in charge of the military, the Ayatollah is, and #3, military force isn't possible or even advisable to dissuade them.  Further, the Russians are now getting involved.  Putin went to Tehran and basically said US military force against Iran is a bad idea.

The Russians are in the process of establishing hegemony in Central Asia and the Caspian area, and they don't want us messing with their energy reserves.  The Chinese get a lot of their energy from Iran.  They both sell weapons to Iran, including hypersonic anti shipping cruise missiles, Onyx and Sunburn, that can now be launched by air, land (and no, we weren't that successful hunting Iraqi SCUDS) and sea.  Now then, Iran sits right on the Straits of Hormuz, where something like 20% of all the world's oil passes by ship.  Can we say economic disaster if we get into a fight with the Iranians and they decide to attack shipping in the Straits???  Oil prices would shoot up, the Chinese would likely get pretty pissed, and I'd put money down on losing a few capital ships in the Gulf and the Arabian Sea to Iranian anti-shipping missiles.

Further, WTF are we going to do, occupy all of Iran and force a regime change???  We can't even sustain operations in Iraq with any hope of gaining control, we're losing control in Afghanistan, and we're generally over extending the Army and Marines.  This leaves only airstrikes as an option.

I think it's time we realized we can't just use military force to get our way, and that sometimes, people are going to do things that we don't like, but there's not a whole hell of a lot we can do about it.

I'd be interested in reading your paper if you wanted to post it.  A few questions that I've been meaning to research more extensively but haven't found the time: #1 - Why is it inevitable that Iran will obtain nukes?  Are they that far along in the nuclear enrichment process?  Were you suggesting that they would be able to obtain them or make them?  #2 - Do you know what the opinion of the Ayatollah is about the current administration of the U.S.? and Israel?  #3 - How tight are China and Iran?  What kind of economic and military relationships do they have?

Also, I agree with you when you say that we can't even sustain operations in Iraq . . . actually, we can't even sustain operations in Baghdad.  I don't know how we even think we could begin to occupy Iran. 

[enloopious]

Our own intelligence says that they are at least 10 years from having the capability to make nuclear weapons. They have not made anything past 3% enriched uranium and I believe they need 99% to make weapons grade (thats 50 enrichment plants running for a month straight.) The US estimates that they have 2000 enrichment plants so while it is possible, they would have to use those plants for other than power.

We should probably also remember the turmoil the US caused when we over threw their president Mossaddeq and pretty much ruined the country for about 25 years. I think the US may owe them an apology for that or at the very least we should treat them fairly. After all, Israel HAS 200-400 nukes already and has said that they are going to invade Iran with or without support.

I think people fail to see that Israel is just as, if not more, responsible for the whole situation. How would it feel to have the same amount of Iranian media here as we do Israeli? If Iran had HALF the propaganda media in the US as Israel we would be on Iran's side instead of Israel's.

Compared with the questionable statement that Ahmadinejad said, Israel seems much worse. Like staying in Palestine against the UN orders to leave, not disclosing ANY info on their nuke program, or invading and attacking various other Arab nations, and generally not listening to the UN.

But why are we on Israels side? Why do we send them Billions of dollars a year plus free tanks, weapons, planes, bombers, etc? Find that out and you will know what moves the world.

Israel is double plus good eh brother?

[LiveFree]

Schake seems to think they already have the technical/scientific capability to make their own nukes within 5-10 years, and I haven't seen anything to suggest otherwise.  We're not talking about dumb people here.  The Pakistanis made their own, there's nothing really out there that I've seen suggesting that the Iranians can't.

It's inevitable mainly because we're a huge threat to the Iranians, and the best way to counter a threat is to develop or obtain nukes.  Think about it, Bush already put them on his "Axis of Evil" and we've already taken out one of them, their neighbor Iraq.  Also, with Iraq out of the way, that leaves Iran with a lot of power in the region.  The Iranians are a very proud people, much like ourselves, and they've historically been an extremely important power in the region.  Obtaining nukes is just one more way to say "Hey, we matter".  Also, the Israelis have nukes, and they probably think "Hey, they've got 'em, why not us?"  And a lot of the thinking in Iranian security is self sufficiency.  The rest of the world HELPED SADDAM CLOBBER THEM in the 80's by sending Saddam monetary and military aid.  Iran is a non-Arab state and they realize that if anything ever happens between them and another Arab state again, they're on their own.  They also can't buy weapons from the West because most of the West refuses to sell to them, and they seem to not want to be completely dependent on the Russians and Chinese for harware.  They've already developed indigenous aircraft and rockets, so indigenously produced nukes would definitely be a logical step towards security self-sufficiency for them.

I can't really say too much on the Ayatollah right now because I haven't found much on things the current one has said, but the general gist of what I have seen seems to be they don't like American hegemony in the area, they don't like Israel's bossiness and unilateralism.  There's no love lost between the Iranians and the Israelis.  I also don't know that much about their relationship w/ the Chinese and I need to look into that more if I incorporate it into the paper.

Either way, I'm against using military force mainly because it's a losing proposition for us.  The best thing we can do in the case of Iran is stop saber rattling and let them know that mutually assured destruction is alive and well, and the Israelis have nukes of their own.