RE: RNC nut throwing racism.
August 31, 2012 at 5:05 pm
(This post was last modified: August 31, 2012 at 5:20 pm by Anomalocaris.)
I think nuclear armed Iran is no threat to the security of any western country at all, nor indeed even the existential security of Israel. Iranian regime may be a theocracy, it is by no means a fundamentalist theocracy. Regime survival is its first and dominant concern. It's second concern is the same as those of any other major country - to maximize its own freedom of action within its sphere of influence, while diminishing the freedom of action of all of its neigbhors.
Israel has made an art out of subtlely exploiting the holocaust by insinuating anything which constrains Isreal's ability to do whatever it wants in its own neighborhood constitutes an existential threat to Israel. This is total bullshit. Isreal already has far more freedom of action without local counterbalance than any other power in all of Euroasia. No superficially larger, stronger, wealthier country on that entire land mass, Not Russia, Not Germany, Not France, Not UK, Not China, Not Japan, has the sort of carte blanche to use force outside of its internationally acknowledged border without credible threat of serious reprecussion like Israel really has.
Israel has used it to act in a way that is fundamentally against American interests.
A nuclear armed Iran does not endanger the survival of Israel, but does constrain Israel's freedom of action. This is a good thing for America.
Ideally, from American point of view, no country in the world should have any freedom of action but to do precisely what benefits the US. We certainly lack the power to implement this through our own power. But we should not give up opportunity to let local or regional power constrain each other, and through balance of power nullify each other and leave the US the defacto hegemon. And we would be idiots to let an already regionally dominant power like Israel acquire further freedom of action by giving it our idiot blessing to knock out what would counterbalance its influence, and this leave the US with even less power to influence its future actions. We should let Iran go nuclear so as to build a true balance of power in the Middleeast that would keep both Israel and Iran in check.
Israel has made an art out of subtlely exploiting the holocaust by insinuating anything which constrains Isreal's ability to do whatever it wants in its own neighborhood constitutes an existential threat to Israel. This is total bullshit. Isreal already has far more freedom of action without local counterbalance than any other power in all of Euroasia. No superficially larger, stronger, wealthier country on that entire land mass, Not Russia, Not Germany, Not France, Not UK, Not China, Not Japan, has the sort of carte blanche to use force outside of its internationally acknowledged border without credible threat of serious reprecussion like Israel really has.
Israel has used it to act in a way that is fundamentally against American interests.
A nuclear armed Iran does not endanger the survival of Israel, but does constrain Israel's freedom of action. This is a good thing for America.
Ideally, from American point of view, no country in the world should have any freedom of action but to do precisely what benefits the US. We certainly lack the power to implement this through our own power. But we should not give up opportunity to let local or regional power constrain each other, and through balance of power nullify each other and leave the US the defacto hegemon. And we would be idiots to let an already regionally dominant power like Israel acquire further freedom of action by giving it our idiot blessing to knock out what would counterbalance its influence, and this leave the US with even less power to influence its future actions. We should let Iran go nuclear so as to build a true balance of power in the Middleeast that would keep both Israel and Iran in check.
