Daniel J. Pipes

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Re: Iranian irrationality

Reader comment on item: Israeli Jets vs. Iranian Nukes
in response to reader comment: Yes Dan, some sense please.

Submitted by Dan (United States), Jun 24, 2007 at 22:07

Moshe,

I'm ultimately guesstimating. But then, so are you. But then, so is most of our intel.

As I said, Iran is not the Japan of 1945 - or more accurately, 1941. I.E. They have not conducted a state invasion or attack of another sovereign nation. They may be huffin' and puffin' to 'wipe Israel off the map', yet talk is cheap. Especially when Amade-najad (sp?) does not actually control their military. Yet, they are surrounded by those they consider the enemy (our military bases, troops, Israel, etc.). If attacked then, they would irrationally respond without necessarily heeling like we're estimating.

Ultimately, I'm betting on their willingness not to commit state suicide for 70 million people. There's a difference between suicide and dying while defending yourself. I may be totally wrong, but then, I see attacking them open-endedly without knowing where that will lead - based on a hunch that they'll nuke Israel the first chance they get, is a bit irrational as well.


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Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

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