Me and my friend think America has grown soft on international Nuclear Programs. I think if Iran does continue its Nuclear Program that we might go into a Nuclear Show down with them! What do you think?
131959
they should be stopped.  their president is a nut job that is anti-west and anti-Israel / Jew.  He is dangerous and looks on path to be worse than Saddam who by the way had NO wmd!!  This guy is blatantly producing uranium and no one is doing anything.  Just WTF is going on here???
307316
now .. haven't you opened a can of worms ?!?!?!?\nit is a tough one, mainly because NO ONE can say whether or not there's actually a military (bomb-making) aspect to the "nuclear ambition". \nConstruction of the nuclear power plants in Iran started many years ago, long before the mullahs came to power ... so it's not as if this is something new that the current regime has suddenly come up with. In that sense, and since there is no "proof" of any malicious ;) activity, I personally don't see why not complete power plants on which millions and millions have been spent already. But then again : is there an atomic bomb hiding behind the facade? I don't know ... you don't know ... Bush doesn't know ... the IAEA doesn't know. To be fair, I would say all "countries" are "innocent" unless PROVEN otherwise.
285122
Wow, kucitizenx! You aren't really that naive, are you? When has Iran EVER told the truth in the past? I'm happy to have a president that doesn't sell nuclear secrets to people who hate America, like the last president we had.\n\nAs to the actual question posed, I don't think there is a true diplomatic solution. They talk, they don't talk, they argue until they're blue in the face, but nobody ever resolves things. The people who talk aren't the ones who suffer. Diplomatic is just another word for aristocratic, isn't it?
422974
Sala'm Aga / Khanum!\n\nDo you want to imply that Iran's case is similar to that of the Iraq during last days of Saddam when he was denying having any WMD and USA was insisting that he was lying?\n\nIn any case, there is a great difference in the analogy. Iran has been more-or-less positively identified by the IAEA to be moving towards a secret nuclear weapons program, as per circumstantial evidences its inspectors and 'monitors' has obtained.\n\nSo, in my personal view, the President of Iran Mr. Ahmedinezad is playing high-wire act and also brinkmanship with the West (not only with USA). I am a Muslim and I worked in Iranian Air Force for two years as civilian specialist and I have no ill feeling for the Iranian people.\n\nGod forbid, if Iranian people had to live the miserable life that of Iraq then it would be solely the present government of Iran that would be held responsible to ignore numerous warnings to refrain from its present belligerent attitude and sit with world community and sort out its differences across the table.\n\nInshaAllah we hope major catastrophe could be averted and Iranians can live and prosper and be the Malaysia of the Middle East!\n\nKhuda Hafez
143832
Israel is a lot less likely to be firing off nuclear weapons at their enemy-of-the-week than Iran is.  But who has the right to develope them and who doesn't - I don't know.   The US and the UN want to be the Police of the World, and that seems to cause more problems than it solves.
221469
I would say so, Jimmy Carter has been called upon several time to act as minister for foreign affairs. America is lucky to have had him as a President. This guy above me is wrong again. President Ford gave Iran the Nuclear technology they have right now. Iran isn't a treat to America anyway, and nobody is listening to the warmongering Republicans on the Iran Issue anyway.
358029
You are a smart cookie!  Our fiasco in Iraq has given Iran the guts they needed to challenge the US.  After seeing how we're getting our asses kicked by a ragtag bunch of jihadists, they figured it was time to kick some sand in the bully's face.  And yes, anybody who's been paying attention knows that Saddam didn't want to admit he didn't have WMDs because he didn't want to appear weak to the Iranians.  Just another example of how stupid and self-absorbed some Americans can be.  We stumble into areas of the world where we don't have the first clue what's going on.
581890
It's a good thing if we can monitor and help proliferate thier nuclear activities so they remain for energy only, not weapons.  Aiding Iran in this way could lead to future partnerships between our nations, and it sends a positive message to other countries about our ability to act diplomatically.\n\nIt's an important move symbolically, for our national security, and possibly a good business move.
469024
Despite the Anti-American rhetoric from Iran, it doesn't really want to have any major confrontation with the US, especially on a head-to-head basis, as militarily it is far weaker than the US.\n\nIn addition, the US has no real desire at present to send troops into Iran either (it's bad enough fighting battles in both Afghanistan and Iraq without fighting Iran also, since the best combat divisions are already tied up).\n\nIran is well aware that "attacking the US" would provoke a swift and powerful military response in the form of bombings and ship-launched missiles against strategic military targets in Iran, in order to prevent further Iranian attacks. The US would also ensure that Iranian nuclear facilities were well "bombed".\n\nThere would be no need for troops on the ground as the US wouldn't be seeking to invade, merely to punish.\n\nIn some ways an attack on a US ship by Iran would give the US an excuse to attack Iran and halt any nuclear intentions it had for the foreseeable future. \n\nHowever, Iran is not a "helpless kitten".\n\nWhen the USS Vincennes accidentally shot down an Iranian passenger plane, believing it to be a hostile jet, Iran vowed revenge - whatever it took.\n\nLess that 6th months later Pan Am Flight 103 blew up over Lockerbie killing all 270 people on board + 11 townsfolk who were subsequently hit by the falling debris.\n\nAlthough Colonel Gadaffi, who the the favorite whipping boy of the US was blamed, many intelligence agencies outside the US blamed Iran for funding the terrorists and proving the detonators.\n\nThe timing device used on the bomb was found to be similar to a batch sold to Iran 3 months earlier. 3 weeks before the bombing, West German police successful arrested several Arab terrorists who were plotting "to blow up a US plane". Two of the terrorists (now serving 20 years each in a German prison) admitted that Irananian Intelligence had supplied them with money, training and detonators.\n\nSo perhaps the real question is whether the US will cause a confrontation, either deliberably or accidentally with Iran, and how Iran, rather than the US, will react. \n\nMy guess would be a 6 or 7 suicide bombers in Times Square, Wall Street, near the Whitehouse, etc. There is a hell of a lot of "wannabe martyrs" in Iran, but they lack both the training and the funding. Iran can provide both.
178393
I think Iranian government(which is separate from its people) is developing Nuke Weapons (in their own words) to promote Islam in other countries. This is one of their goals. I think U.S and other countries must be aware that this regime doesn't care about it's own people, and so they don't care about anyone in the world. \nIran is one of the richest oil nations, but look how their citizens are living!!!! all the money form oil exports are in their own bank accounts in foreign countries.\nDo you know how many political prisoners are in prisons in Iran!!! They kill, torture and do lots of stuff that you can't imagine. \nI think the first thing U.S and other countries can do is to freeze their assets and money in banks.  some of them(people in Iran Regime) has Green card and travel to U.S. if Bush means what he says how they can travel to his country so easily.\nIranian people has nothing to do with all this. Why they should pay the price. All these things you see in T.V that some people are supporting them, these are their own people and they are paid to be there. \nBut in my opinion they should try to resolve the problem in a way that Iranian people pay the least price.
224721
Perhaps you were lost somewhere in recent history, but the Cold War ended for a reason. \n\nThere is no reason to consider the use of nuclear weapons on Iran. Look at Iraq. How can you possibly trust the intelligence the Bush Administration would rely on in order to initiate a pre-emptive nuclear strike? \n\nThe US can no longer use might and must learn again how to use diplomacy. This is not a democrat vs. republican issue. This is an issue that involves all of humanity.\n\nUse of nuclear weapons is harmful to everyone, not just the country or entity on which the weapons are used. Look at what the US did in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the lasting impact it has had on the environment and the people of Japan. The US should be ashamed of testing nuclear weapons in that way!!\n\nAnyone still advocating the use of nuclear weapons needs to read up on diplomatic strategy and look at the inevitability of the fall of the US empire as well as global warming, cancer statistics among survivors and countless other issues. Nuclear weapons are even harmful for the US to store. \n\nSoon the US will no longer be in control in the world forum, as hard to believe as that is, the writing is on the wall.
199734
With the rise in power of countries these days, we are lucky all we need to develope are bunker busting weapons.  Many countries have developed nuclear technology since the end of the "cold" war.  I'd be more concerned with the Iranians and North Koreans obtaining nuclear weapons than with the U.S. developing a weapon that could take out nuclear weapons in their silo's.
203060
The President of Iran has been saying things like this at least once a month for awhile now.  It's obvious that he doesn't like Israel (not many people in the Middle East do) but the only thing he could do about it would be to use chemical weapons against them, since that's all they have right now.  He may be trying to provoke either the US or Israel into a war, or maybe he's just trying to get attention.  I personally think that the only reason they're doing this nuclear program is to deter the US.  Once they have a nuclear weapon, they know that we won't want to mess with them (to avoid a nuclear war).  They've seen how it worked for North Korea, and since they're second on Bush's "Axis of Evil" (Iraq, Iran, and North Korea) they may be just trying to defend themselves against an invasion of their country.
49427
It's delicate. My guess is that Iran will take Russia's offer for enrichment at least for now. I'm quite sure their research will go on, which means sooner or later someone's gonna call their bluff and then it won't matter whether they've been onest about the purpose of their program.\nThe sad thing is Iran still has the NPT and international law on it's side since none of the accusers managed to prove its program is -not- entirely civilian. \nWar right now would be damn inconvenient for US since to most neutral countries it will appear and incessant bullying and some might rally behind Iran, Syria and Venezuela.\nUS can't exploit Iraq oil just yet. Of course US companies will be preffered for drilling and/or refining Iraq oil but they have to wait for the situation in Iraq and give the appearance of elections.
225542
For all we know the leaders of Iran are shilling for Bush and his Neocon buddies. maybe they are simply playing a part in the overall geo-political strategy of peak oil.\n\nDont believe the hype.
98308
It now appears a foregone conclusion that Iran will continue its nuclear program no matter what the United States and European Union offer to stop it. A military strike would likely be futile, since Iran has hardened and dispersed its nuclear complex. \n\nA war, even a limited one, will almost certainly raise oil prices to recession-inducing levels, as Iran cuts itself off from global markets.\n\nThere are fearfully powerful arguments against the use of the military option. But multiplied together, squared, and then cubed, the weight of these arguments does not come close to matching the case for us to stop, by whatever means may be necessary, Iran from becoming a nuclear power. \n\nIf Iran gets safely and unmolested to nuclear status, it will be a threshold moment in the history of the world, up there with the Bolshevik Revolution and the coming of Hitler. \n\nAnd the kind of society we live in and cherish in the West will change beyond recognition. We balk now at intrusive government measures to tap our phones or other intrusions into our civil liberties. Imagine how much more our freedoms will be curtailed if our governments fear we are just one telephone call or e-mail, one plane journey or truckload, one lead-lined cargo ship away from another Hiroshima. \n\nYou ask what are the odds of an attack, over 50%, there are timeposts that military tacticians, i'm sure are looking at. The estimated dates of an operational nuke in Iran is anywhere between 2007 and 2012. \n\nThere are reports that the Israel deadline for strikes against Iran are the end of March. American air strikes on Iran would vastly exceed the scope of the 1981 Israeli attack on the Osiraq nuclear center in Iraq, and would more resemble the opening days of the 2003 air campaign against Iraq. Using the full force of operational B-2 stealth bombers, staging from Diego Garcia or flying direct from the United States, possibly supplemented by F-117 stealth fighters staging from al Udeid in Qatar or some other location in theater, the two-dozen suspect nuclear sites would be targeted. \n\nTehran has confirmed that it will retaliate if attacked, in the form of ballistic missile strikes directed against Israel (CNN, 8 Feb 2005). These attacks, could also target US military facilities in Iraq and Persian Gulf, which would immediately lead us into a scenario of military escalation and all out war.
401457
Nice ideal, but absolutely impossible. If I was an Iranian Leader, I wouldn't even think about it until I saw several American leaders convicted & successfully impeached. He is well aware our leaders speak with forked tongues.\n\nBy the way, what about this alleged nuclear weapons development? Is it any more real than what was in Iraq? It's the same people saying it, folks. Think. They were never found in Iraq because they never existed. You can hide a bomb, or several bombs, where they are difficult to find. Not true for the facilities that make them. Iran has a facility to enrich uranium for power plants.But nothing has been found suggesting bomb grade uranium, or the facilities to make it. And they are under constant inspection. think.