Does A Nuclear Iran Really Pose A Danger To U.S. ?

There has been a lot in the media about Iran recently -- since the U.S. reached a tentative agreement that would probably keep Iran from becoming a nuclear power. Most Democrats support the agreement, while most Republicans oppose it. But both sides seem to agree on one thing -- that a nuclear Iran would pose a danger to the United States. But is that really true?

I'm not at all convinced that it is. I think a lot of politicians on both sides are simply using this to drum up fear, and get the public to vote for them. There are already a whole list of countries with a nuclear bomb, including at least one outlaw islamic state -- Pakistan, India, South Africa, Israel, France, United Kingdom, Russia, China, the United States, and possibly North Korea. Those are the nuclear states that we know about. Would Iran having the nuclear bomb really change things much?

The politicians are saying Iran would be a danger to this country if they had the bomb. That is ridiculous. For one thing, they don't have the capability to deliver a nuclear strike on this country. For another, even though their rhetoric is silly (much like ours), they are not suicidal. They know that any attempt to attack the United States with a nuclear bomb would insure their own complete annihilation. Remember, we have already shown that we are willing to use nuclear power against another country (and that country didn't even have a nuclear bomb).

We are also the only country refusing to sign a treaty saying we won't be the first to use nuclear arms in the future, and the only one unwilling to sign a treaty to keep nuclear arms out of space. The Iranians (and everyone else) should be a lot more afraid of us than we should be of them.

Others will say that even though Iran couldn't make a nuclear strike on the U.S., they could use it on our ally (Israel). That is almost as ridiculous as the idea they would use it against us. Israel has long had the bomb and they have a lot of our delivery technology -- and they have shown they won't hesitate to use their military power. The Israelis could annihilate Iran almost as quickly and completely as we could. And once again, the Iranians are not suicidal. And the same argument could be made about the European powers.

Don't get me wrong. I don't particularly like the idea of another nation having the nuclear bomb -- but then, I don't like the idea of any nation having a nuclear strike capability, including the United States. In a sane world, all nations would destroy their nuclear weapons. But Iran getting the bomb won't change things much. It will just be one more nation with the ability to claim "detente". And they would be no more likely to use a nuclear bomb than any of the other nuclear powers.

This is a false issue. The real issue that the world should be discussing is the disarmament of ALL nations. War is stupid, and a nuclear war would be completely insane -- for anyone, including Iran.