I never knew until reading you comment that you are a Pacifist.

I am now confident that your kind words for the Iranians will motivate them to be a kinder and gentler nation that will abandon their hatred for the western world.

"Coexistence" is not a reward that we bestow upon powers that toe the line. It's the state we're thrown into by default.

Given that (1) Iran has been declared part of the "Axis of Evil," and that (2) the "Bush Doctrine" has us preemptively invading non-threat nations (because they might BECOME a threat) ... the Iranians would be crazy NOT to be building nukes.

Politics is "the art of the possible."

I don't know why we have those right here in the US who maintain the idea that "we can co-exist" with them and treat them like "good little kids" after everyone with any common sense could only see them as the terrorists they are and have demonstrated.

Iran is long overdue for a military response from those who see Iran for what they are and the danger they present to the civilized world.

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Substantively, I concur, adding as usual that if we're stuck with a nuclear Iran, we need to be working on getting them to be part of the community and to play nicely with others. A country with a sound economy and good ties to the rest of the world should be less likely to sell baby nukes to the Osamas and McVeighs of the world.

An armed world is a polite world.

Good job Mr. Bush.

Keep bombing the crap out of anything that moves around anything suspicious. Most of all, bomb the crap out of leadership targets.

With enemies like this does anyone wonder why Iran has concluded it needs nuclear weapons?

Right next door the war on Iraq being waged by people with similiar opinions. What do these people think would happen in Iran?

Iran is faced with a possible military invadion from the United States. A logical deterrent against this possibility is a nuclear armed Iran.

Keep bombing the crap out of anything that moves around anything suspicious. Most of all, bomb the crap out of leadership targets.

However, something occurred to me recently: I wonder if the developing relationship between the Iraqi Kurds and the Israelis isn't a relevant factor. There's a scant possibility that Israel might be able to develop forward bases that would allow Israeli special forces incursions into Iran. What would be difficult (and possibly futile) via bombing might be more effective via ground raids.

...its economy will boom as it sells its oil and gas to the East.

Something will boom.

They've also learned to build things underground, beyond the capability of even the latest "bunker busters".

That leaves the US with the choice of going nuclear itself, which isn't going to happen absent an Iranian first-use of their own atomic bombs.

I really don't see the Israelis, even nuts like Netanyahu, winning the argument for a preventative nuclear strike.

Until Iran changes from within--and I've no better guess about how that could happen than anyone else--the world is simply going to be a less safe place if Iran starts building nuclear weapons, if it hasn't already.