In all of the media frenzy over Iran's proxy, Hezbollah, and their war against Israel, whatever happened to the repeatedly violated deadlines for Iran's nuclear disarmament? Isn't the lack of talk about that subject, and the corresponding lack of action to pursue it, the precise goal that Iran had in mind when it ordered Hezbollah to instigate this war?

Iran and its President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, mince no words about their desire to attack and kill as many westerners as they can… and if equipped with nuclear weapons, we cannot doubt that they will use them. Personally, I would be a lot more comfortable if more people in the media and our government were discussing the necessity of destroying Iran's nuclear program. I can only hope that we are in the "calm before the storm."

Anything less would be playing right into their hands.

-Inspector

Well, I am glad I came back to check this forum ;)

I was beginning to wonder that myself over the last week.

Its as if making Hezbollah the center of attention is in keeping with Iran's plan perfectly.

This is a big distraction.

The main goal is that Iran will continue to have time to build nuclear devices.

In the end, I wonder if such an action will bear the proper fruits though?

If Iran does nuke Isreal or anywhere else, wouldn't that give the USA/Isreal the means to win over world opinion to finally remove the Iranian regime as well?

Don't the Iranians realize that a move of that sorts will only bring about thier end?

Perhaps Iran would use it as a threat, to extract further concessions from the west. Or perhaps they're completely batsh*t crazy and will actually use it. Both scenarios are plausible. Either way, not good.

There is one important difference in the Israeli-Iranian relationship from the previous nuclear rivalries: Israel is very small. It would probably take very few nuclear weapons to wipe Israel out completely.

I am not a military expert, but I suspect that Israel would have an extremely limited second strike capability if another nuclear power struck first. If Ahmadinejad and the cadre of ruling clerics in Iran believe that the US and Europe won't risk a war on Israel's behalf, they might well choose to strike first and hope to eliminate Israel before a retaliatory strike can be launched.

My biggest worry, however, is that Iran would use nuclear weapons to deter Western intervention, and then use its conventional superiority over its neighbors to establish itself as the dominant power in the region. The Iranian military could not statnd up to the United States, but I doubt any other country in the region could match them without Western intervention.