Iran

[extermin8r]

At least by media accounts, Iran is shaping up to appear as a threat (although the media did the same thing with Iraq.) Unfortunately for Mr. Bush, we are so tied up in Iraq that even if Iran proves a dire threat, our military will be very taxed if he decides that conflict is necessary. This is a very precarious situation, but most around me don't seem to notice, or care. I am actually very worried (although that is what your government wants.) I guess I am mainly worried because I feel like our approach to terrorism has been wrong; rather than taking advantage of intelligence and special operations, we have decided to go the "bomb the whole area" approach. This seems to only be igniting more flames in the Middle East. What do you guys think is a reasonable course of action?

[Skiusa2005]

My vote goes for diplomacy.....Though I understand our government knows many things we do not, and does many things we do not know about, given the information I've gathered via different media outlets...diplomacy seems the best option. I'd rather not have another Iraq conflict on our hands.

The issue is, at this point we can stop the production of these weapons, if we don't and these weapons are produced, we have no course of action without threat of a full blown nuclear attack on U.S. soil.

Agreeing with Ex, not many people around me seem to care or even know of the situation....I think this, coupled with North Korea poses a much larger threat than Iraq ever did.

[Duncan]

If it were not for our VERY extra-curricular activities in Iraq, we more than likely wouldn't have any problem with Iran. Likewise, it was the lack of MEANINGFUL diplomacy that screwed up the pre-war situation with Iraq - history is, apparently, quite ready to repeat itself if we let it.

Statistics I've heard say that Iran is, at best, capable of being a potential nuclear-weapon threat within the next TEN YEARS - but certainly not immediately. (In short, Iran simply can't produce enough refined uranium yet to even run a viable power plant, much less arm even a small warhead.)

North Korea, on the other hand, is being basically ignored by this White House despite its much more tenuous situation (closer geographically and more advanced in nuclear technology) - I suspect this is because they aren't seen a major front in the supposed "war on terror" or whatever they're calling it these days.

In the words of Tom Lehrer (Google that name for hilarity), "We shall all go together when we go!"

[extermin8r]

I also think the proximity to Iraq is a large factor here. I mean, I was predicting Iran like a year ago. Now it just seems like we are building up to it, and it only makes sense when you consider how easily it would be to shift the troops over to Iran. Then, because we have focused our attention on a more "imminent" threat, Bush can say that leaving Iraq was necessary.