It looks like an Israeli advocacy group has won a $323 million judgement against Iran and Syria for supporting Palestinian militants that killed an American teenager and injured others. Apparently the US District judge ruled that if a state uses terror as a tool of policy, it forfeits its sovereign immunity. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/israeli-group-wins-323-million-terror-suit-syria-iran-article-1.1078838#ixzz1v0IEojl5
Will the same principle apply, if an Israeli settler kills a Palestinian-American child? http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...ign-of-terror-by-the-israeli-army-811769.html
ttp://www.theprovince.com/news/Syria+opposition+group+chaos+leader+quits/6639837/story.html An interesting article, which touches on the similarity of rhetoric, the vastly different objectives, and the quite different tactics, between Iran and the US as they each try to exert their influence on events in Lebanon specifically -- and the region more generally. http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2012/05/18/us-envoys-losing-lebanon-visit-by-visit/ The article discuss how the US is trying to bully Lebanon to follow its script, while Iran is assisting Lebanon in practical ways in all sorts of fields. There is just too much detail to quote here, but ultimately the story is about the case of a bully pretending to be interested in a country's "sovereignty and independence" as opposed to a friend ready to help and doing so.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18108246 this is getting ridiculous. once we get nukes we should go on a full offensive and take back bahrain and take over UAE once and for all.
That's pretty funny. Of course the govt. of iran has stated that they are not pursuing nukes so do you know something different? Of course the other aspect to your statement is do you think cause you would have nukes that you could go on any offensive? I mean you do know that there are other nations that have nukes and even one that wouldn't hesitate to use them....
Inteview with realist Trita Parsi about the geopolitcal map in middle east and power balance (or maybe more correctly power struggle) between Israel and Iran. I urge everyone to watch it, its very interesting. Its from 2007.
i was joking... of course. but theoretically if we get nukes our words will hold more weight and certain countries that like to meddle in other countries affairs will be more hesitant to meddle.
Its a double edged sword don't you think? On one hand I see what you mean that having nukes will give you some weight with what you say, but on the other hand, if you push the issue too far, or make threats that some think you will follow up on, you risk getting more in return than you can dish out. The MAD Principe applies, however if one side thinks that iran doesn't care about MAD then they will likely choose to preemptively remove the threat. And who wins in that situation? The more nations that get or try to get nukes just increases the odds that one will be used. Not exactly a thought that should help any of us sleep better at night. Of course I have to scoff at the idea that a country getting nukes will have much effect on the US and our policies. I mean what has really changed with NK from the time before they got nukes to after? Plus one US Ohio class sub has more MIRV's in their SLBM's then most other nuclear nations and we can hit anyone within 20 mins of detecting a launch from them.
Im not sure you are implying it here, but the notion that Iran does not care about MAD or its destrcuction on the account of it being, according US and Israeli right wing hawks, a post-apocalyptic jihadist regime that only cares about the 12 Mahdi coming down to take them to heaven, is just childish non sensible propaganda. Which has been refuted by your top senior military official general Dempsey, Mossad heads and even the current head of IDF Benny Gantz. All coming out saying that even though IR being a repressive regime it is not irrational. Iran will not ever be the one to start a war against anyone. Most certainly not nuclear war (if they are developing nukes). Iran's conventional military (except air-force) can with it's missiles crush these puny arab states in the matter of few minutes. However Iran does not benefit from exerting such aggressive policies in the Middle East anyway.
My statement wasn't that iran doesn't care about MAD, rather it applied to other nations in the area that may feel as though iran doesn't care and will strike pre-emptively to protect themselves. I wasn't delving into the mythology of a 12th imam or anything like that.
Yes I know you weren't, but I thought it shouldn't go unmentioned. Now that we were in the topic about MAD deterrence.
having nukes can lead to dangerous escalation of an otherwise pretty benign confrontation. it's like two outlaws meeting in an old western. because neither knows the other's motives and are suspicious of each other, actions can easily be misinterpreted and exaggerated in their meaning, and the likelihood of each side trying to pre-empt the other and draw first with deadly results.
Well while Tehran and Washington continue to spar with each other, it is good to see that on the high seas Iran and the US can work together to help one another out: http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/24/world/meast/iran-pirates/index.html?hpt=hp_t2 Job well done Iran.
I am surprised no one is talking about the massacre in Houla. Horrific everyone is blaming the government Nd given recent events, that is prima facie who is probably to blame. But there is a bit of a disconnect here for me. The government is being blamed because it is clearly violating the cease fire by use of artillery. Yet the victims were killed at close range or had their throats slit. So obviously not victims of artillery So who did it? Do we have any idea who the victims are? Are they Sunnis? If so, where the killers government troops or could they have been Alawites or Shia worried about loss of status when Assad falls? Where they Sunni extremists not happy with the general sexual tenor of the revolution? This is why I have felt we need to stay uninvolved in the whole thing. Give help to the Turks dealing with refugees but otherwise stay out
Is a new computer virus spreading across the ME? http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wor...ated-cyber-weapon-unleashed-article-1.1085678
I read about it earlier ... apparently it's a variant of stuxnet, and Iran and westbank got affected the most speaking of stuxnet.... a few weeks ago I heard about this rumor going on that it somehow affected the nk plants in Japan, and disrupted their backup systems when they were trying to shut down during the earthquake
http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/29/world/meast/syria-unrest/index.html?hpt=hp_c1 This travesty of justice that is going on in syria needs to be stopped. Although it isn't the US that needs to step in and stop it, it should be up to Russia, China, Iran and Turkey, and the arab league to find a way to stop what is going on in syria. The problem is that none of them has the moral compass nor the intestinal fortitude to do what must be done to stop the wholesale slaughter being committed by assad.
well, with Russia, and to a lesser degree China, the current Syrian regime is an ally. so I don't expect them to do much of anything about the situation, and Iran and Turkey aren't powerful enough as regional powers to do what needs to be done.