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Originally Posted by Horrido
I say place a bid, win, let them know that cooperation is dependent upon full transparency and spy the living daylights out of them. It's a leg-in to turn that theocratic wasteland on its head and put power to its citizens where it belongs. Worse comes to worse, we'll have had guys on the ground to get some very good GPS data for JDAM's to use at a later date. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
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I think that is a fine idea. The idea that Iran could have a research and power reactor with the fuel handling services under somebody else's control has been floated for several years by various parties. I always felt it was a reasonable compromise (and as a satisfied shareholder of the United States Uranium Enrichment Corporation, I know just how it would work
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At the rate things are going, Iran is going to have a nuclear reactor and if we fail to properly engage them they are probably going to have a nuclear bomb sooner or later. Sure the US and Israel could attempt to militarily pre empt them, but that would probably aggravate the situation.
Many of you, and me for that matter, are appalled by the **** coming from this Ahmadijed character's mouth but we should not let emotion cloud our judgement.
When we look beyond the garbage being purveyed by the nationalist ideologues in Washington and Tehran applying rational, logical scrutiny to the regional and global security climate, Iran appears to be the best tool for the US to forward its interests.
How often have we seen two children who fought bitterly in the schoolyard grow to young men co-captaining the winning football team?
The US has to accomplish three fundamental goals in its quest for stability, reform and prosperity in the Middle East and Central Asia:
1. Solve the Arab-Israeli conflict (easier said than done, naturally, but it would remove a huge source of friction between Isalm and "the West" which would take the wind out of the sails of our enemies);
2. Alter the strategic equation in the region (getting access to the global economy for many of these states so they can monetize resource assets and gain capital for development of infrastructure and stable institutions is a key component of this idea);
3. Engage governments in the region in the development and implementation of robust counterproliferation and counterterror regimes.
Iran is clearly a pivotal player in all three of these areas so it would be foolish to not take advantage of their position.
If Mr. Nixon could go to China, than President Bush can--and should--send somebody to Tehran. As it stands, the United States has abdicated leadership to its strategic competitors which is a distinct discredit to the Bush Administration and potentially harmful to American interests.
I agree with Horrido: if the Iranians are going to have a nuclear reactor, than it should not be a Russian reactor, it should not be a Chinese reactor, it should and needs to be an American reactor!