Where are we heading in regards to Iran?

Increasingly, rhetoric on Iran has heated up. The larger focus is on Iran's nuclear activities. But, also Iran is being pointed to as one, albeit small, source of disruption in Afghanistan.

McChrystal recently pointed to signs some Taliban trained in Iran. He says he would be concerned if flows increase.

Last month, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates accused Iran of "playing a double game" by nurturing relations with Afghanistan while supporting insurgents to undermine U.S. and NATO troops.

U.S. officials have said Taliban fighters are being trained in Iran.

Still, the larger looming confrontation is on Iran' nuclear program.

A US military attack on Iran is an option to try to stop or slow progress on a nuclear bomb, Undersecretary of Defense Michele Flournoy said, but not an attractive one.

Now, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has sent "a wake-up call" to the Administration. A senior administration official drew a line not to be crossed the United States would ensure that Iran would not "acquire a nuclear capability," a step Tehran could get to well before it developed a sophisticated weapon.

The Obama Administration worked for diplomacy as a first option. That hasn't proved successful. They are now turning to sanctions. Obama urges world to move 'boldly' on Iran sanctions.

If the sanctions fail to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear capability, then what? If sanctions fail to slow Iran's momentum, are we seriously going to entertain the idea of military actions? Where is the line for Iran not to cross, and where should it be?

my countrymen and women need help NOW, not GD halliburton, or GE.

What's phony is our premise for being at war. The word 'terror" should be replaced by the War on Tose Who Dare to Squat On Our Oil Resources". And, yes, that eventually includes Iran. Everybody knows Iran is nowhere close to having a viable nuclear weapon. Yet, they play up that lie just like was done to invade Iraq. And we'll bitch and moan and whine and count dead bodies in Iran just the same.

what happened to the war on poverty? I guess they won,....

Weakening them. The next Repuke President will invade.

Stop pissing in other peoples sandbox and we won't have so many enemies.

developing nuclear weapons. Enriching uranium up to 95%+ is what is necessary. They have a ways to go, but could certainly do it in a year or two if that is the route that government wants to take. The U.S. did it in under four years and had to create the technology in WWII. Iran is a strategec competitor of countries such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Syria, each of which would be under enourmous pressure to create their own nuclear arsenal.

I do not support a war against Iran.

I do not support bombing their nuclear sites unless there is a lot better attempt at using sanctions and other forms of diplomacy, first. Obama appears intent on using every diplomatic means until before the final diplomatic act o war is used.

and of course the US of A is going to use every possible diplomatic means available (see Iraq) prior to invading the country.

I'm a firm believer that constantly poking an animal will cause it to bite. We seem to use that stick pretty often.

But hey, what do I know?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ts5MKtXNpMQ

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/magazine/16Bruce-t.html

If you're too lazy to read or watch the video, the short version is that Iran is not going to make a bomb but will enrich enough weapons grade fuel to show us that they could build a bomb if they really wanted to. If you heard Ahmadinejad's statements as well as the Iran's Atomic Energy Minister on the 31st anniversary of the revolution they basically both said "We are only going to enrich up to 20 percent, but just so you know we can enrich up to 100 percent if we wanted to".

As Bueno De Mesquita says, this is an outcome that the US won't be happy about but one that the US can live with (i.e. we won't attack them). We will, however, probably leave the option of attacking them "on the table" to balance out the fact that they are leaving the option of building the bomb "on the table". But most likely this will end peacefully.

It worked so well for Iraq that eventually 4,000 children died per month .... for years. Iran has the same right to nuclear energy, medicine and technology the rest of the world does. They lack the refineries to process their oil and gas enough to keep up with domestic consumption ...... just like us, in Canada. Have allowed inspections, cameras, signed onto the NPT and according to the IAEA, there is absolutely no evidence they are building bombs. Deja-vu Iraq. This makes me sick.