If I were Iran...

[Rob Lister]

If I were Iran I would put this...

...on hold for a while until I figured out how to build a much more complex thing like...

...that.

 

[geni]

Really? Myself I would be investing in some very good air deffences. Being a democracy doesn't seem to stop you from getting bombed by the us.

 

[TillEulenspiegel]

Christ Rob don't You think that post was incredibly trite??

You may take some personal satisfaction in Bush's win , but the reality of the first picture You posted will be seen come the next decades. The possibility of immediate injection of US force is probably what many want to see but the truth is that intervention in Iran will cause enemies to multiply like rabbits.

Bush , Your champion is just the man to do it.

Edit to add: unless I completely misinterpreted your sentiments.

 

[LostAngeles]

Christ Rob don't You think that post was incredibly trite??

You may take some personal satisfaction in Bush's win , but the reality of the first picture You posted will be seen come the next decades. The possibility of immediate injection of US force is probably what many want to see but the truth is that intervention in Iran will cause enemies to multiply like rabbits.

Bush , Your champion is just the man to do it.

Edit to add: unless I completely misinterpreted your sentiments.

I figured he was saying that nuclear weapons should take a backseat to establishing equal rights and voting rights.

I could be wrong too, though.

 

[Jocko]

Really? Myself I would be investing in some very good air deffences. Being a democracy doesn't seem to stop you from getting bombed by the us.

Oh really? Care to cite an example of a unilateral US action against a democracy? Since Hitler was elected, I mean.

 

[Crossbow]

If I were Iran I would put this...

...on hold for a while until I figured out how to build a much more complex thing like...

...that.

Er, Iran has been doing elections for over 20 years now.

Or perhaps you think that things were so much better when the Shah was in charge and allied with the USA.

 

[geni]

Oh really? Care to cite an example of a unilateral US action against a democracy? Since Hitler was elected, I mean.

I was thinking of the whole serbia thing. Sure it wasn't unilateral but it shows that democracy alone will not protect you. If however you have nukes you can get away with pretty much anything. This is to be expected but still creates an unfortunate problem.

 

[Richard G]

Saddam was elected. I guess he has a point.

 

[geni]

Saddam was elected. I guess he has a point.

Er no. He had referendum under conditions that make every other election on the planet look legitb ut he was never elected.

 

[Atlas]

Religious and government oppression are 2 sides of the same coin. They create a mindset that does not allow a people to fully engage and compete in the world.

Education and voting rights help to establish an alternative to seeing yourself as pawns and more as free agents but the citizen as free agent is the transformation a society must achieve to succeed in the modern sense. Where government can articulate broad goals and rules and where intelligent, virtuous people choose to live within those rules in agreement with the shared goals peace and prosperity prevail.

Nazi Germany lacked virtue. And societies can go a long way without it but eventually it will crack and fail. Religious states promote a brand of virtue but if a state is permeated with an idea that another people must be destroyed as some Muslim states feel toward Israel I think it lacks virtue.

The US has no such destructive permeating idea. Threats like communism, naziism and terrorism appear and they are dealt with, often through violence, but the idea that permeates is one of competitive coexistence through enlightened self interest.

 

[The Don]

Oh really? Care to cite an example of a unilateral US action against a democracy? Since Hitler was elected, I mean.

If you include providing funding and training then off the top of my head:

1950s Guatemala
1960s Indonesia
1960s Dominican Republic
1970s Chile
1970s Angola
1980s Nicaragua
1980s Panama