Will we strike first?  


ANd anyone got a guess on the time table?

For me this is really serious.. I strongly think iran will not stop.. and they will try and make nuclear weapons.

the Isreali's will do it, and we won't stop them.

And GW doesnt BS he would use force

We can hope...

Isreal could always take their operation out, but it would get kinda ugly I bet. Hell they took out Saddam's reactor.

"Will we strike first?" as opposed to them striking us first?  Puh leeeze!

we will nuke everything off the map...mecca first

reuters.myway.com/article/20050813/2005-08-13T092731Z_01_SPI329552_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-IRAN-BUSH-DC.html

Asked if that included the use of force, Bush replied: "As I say, all options are on the table. The use of force is the last option for any president and you know, we've used force in the recent past to secure our country."

Pres GWB isn't a pussy except when it comes to OUR borders. I like his foreign policy except with what is south of our border. He really messed up there. But the dems are even worse in that respect.

It's still too early to tell if Iran will puss out.

I don't think there's anyway Bush will sit idly by and allow Iran to develop nukes. Too much is at stake and a nuclear Iran is totally and completely unacceptable.

I do feel we will use every means possible to avoid a military strike, but if all else fails, I expect to see some of those new 30,000 lb penetrating MOAB's get dropped on Iran.

Quoted: ....Too much is at stake and a nuclear Iran is totally and completely unacceptable.

"Completely unacceptable" is an understatement C.H.  I really don't know WHAT GWB was thinking with the invasion of Iraq (I did an inter-brigade transfer from a non-deploying unit to one that WAS deploying to try and be a part of it) but I HOPE that on some level it (The war in Iraq) was launched to make the the non-insane world realize that, since the end of the cold-war and the collapse of Soviet-Style socialism, we've had a ticking TIME-BOMB on our hands in the form of the Arab middle-east and the "Governments" that exist there.

The Soviets had a Fourth-Class economy for decades but were taken seriously because they possessed nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them (We didn't wan't their cars or their TV's or their culture but they posed a threat to us and western Europe).

A nuclear armed bunch of 7th century mystics hard-up to relive the past (And whatever position of importance they feel the world owes them) could shut-down the world  

I hope that our mission in Iraq maybe gives a little heads-up to the world (FRANCE) about just what it is that's at stake.

Yup.

A nuclear Iran is scary to think about.

-Nuclear strike against Israel

-Take the Gulf region hostage. Remember, if Iran has nukes and missiles to deliver them, basing our troops in the region will become very difficult.

-The likely supply of nuclear materials to terrorists

Folks, the only time we can act is before they get them. Once they get them, it's too late for any military options, minus a nuclear strike of our own.

It doesnt matter if we strike their nuclear facilities.... by the time we do, it will be too late, in my opinion anyway. I believe this due to the following:

Iran has now restarted conversion of uranium at its Isfahan plant. Before its suspension, it created 37 tons of UF4 gas. Once this UF4 is converted to UF6, Iran will have enough feedstock for their centrifuges to create 5 bombs worth of fissile material.

Once they have the feedstock, they are a defacto nuclear power.

They can take that feedstock and enrich it anywhere in the country. They dont need Natanz or any other nuclear installation after they possess the feedstock. If we bomb them, as long as they keep that feedstock material safe, they can always build more centerfuges. The Natanz enrichment plant is an empty building, waiting to receive installation of Iran's centrifuges. I dont see how blowing up an empty building would benefit us.

They can build new centrifuges, start a 3000 to 4000 centrifuge cascade at some secret location, and begin enriching the uranium. They will most likely want to use a place where they can use civilians as a shield so we wont bomb that site also. They could put 4000 centrifuges in the basement of a high school or a holy site and enrich the uranium there.

Not likely anyone is going to blow up school children... and in all likelihood, we would never know where to look for the new centrifuges anyway. Iran is very good at hiding things. They hid their program for 18 years. And if they get bombed, you better belive they are going to go into untra stealth mode with their program. They will kick out the IAEA and their inspectors and take their entire program underground.

In other words, if we dont act now to stop Iran from turning that UF4 gas into UF6, the nuclear genie has already left the bottle.

Iran can then enrich that material whenever it wants, wherever it wants in total secrecy. Bombing them after they turn this UF4 to UF6 would only prevent them from being able to produce more feedstock to create even more bombs. But they would still have that 5 bombs worth, which is 5 bombs too many.

By the time we are done with the BS diplomacy and going through the UN hoops, Iran will probably possess anywhere from 10 to 15 bombs worth of UF6. Plenty enough to start them off with a decent size arsenal. It will probably take anywhere from 3 to 5 years to completely enrich all this material using 3000 centrifuges.

They can then rebuild what we bombed under the protection of their new "nuclear deterrent" as North Korea would say.

On a side note:

A new report released by the National Council for Resistance in Iran states they have new information that Iran has a hidden location already set to go with 4000 centrifuges in place. This is the same group that revealed the existance of Iran's Natanz and Arak nuclear installations. This could save them a great deal of time seeing as they would not have to make centrifuges from scratch if it were true.