Wednesday, February 18, 2015

NUCLEAR DETERRENT

The only real deterrent to Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon evaporated when George W. Bush toppled Saddam Hussein.  As long as Saddam successfully bluffed the Iranis into thinking that he might have one, and was savage enough to launch a preemptive nuclear strike, they refrained from pursuing such a program.

At the moment, there is no national leader who is deemed crazy enough to undertake a preemptive nuclear strike, without considering that radioactive fallout recognizes no international boundary.  North Korea is an example of how effective sanctions are to stop a determined government from obtaining a nuclear weapon, as it was, similarly, for Pakistan and India.

When it comes to a preemptive strike with conventional weapons, does Netanyahu, and his chickenhawk allies in Congress believe that it  would work, without boots on the ground, against Iran but not when dealing with ISIL?  

As usual, the only realist in the room we call Washngton, is Obama, and we can only hope that he will prevail despite the obstcles that  his foes erected.












2 comments:

  1. All good points! The "hawks" are the ones in denial, both in accepting blame for the current situation, and in how to proceed from here.

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  2. Agreed on all points. However, it appears this starship has been propelled to the "point-of-no-return," and we might have to start getting used to BIG-TIME presence in the region, a la Germany and Japan. Extremely frustrating ... and, costly. But, reality is being smeared in our faces. Did Lincoln run on a war footing? Hardly. In the end, you play with the hand you're dealt ... and maneuver for the best. Still looking for that idyllic island/atoll.

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