A "Cold War" more dangerous than the US-USSR confrontation, if Iran goes nuclear

Submitted by Michael S (United States), Jul 7, 2015 at 15:17

These three stand out:

13. Ahmad Alamolhoda, a member of the Assembly of Experts: "The destruction of Israel is the idea of the Islamic Revolution in Iran and is one of the pillars of the Iranian Islamic regime. We cannot claim that we have no intention of going to war with Israel." (2013)

17. Khamenei: "This barbaric, wolflike & infanticidal regime of Israel which spares no crime has no cure but to be annihilated." (2014)

21. Khamene'i called for Israel to be "annihilated." (November 10, 2014)

#13 in incredible, as it explicitly states that the foundadion of the Iranian Islamic Revolution is not the benefit of the Iranian people, the greatness of Iran, or any other legitimate reason; but the destruction of another country, a country that has never been at war with Iran, that exists hundreds of miles away.

This statement alone qualifies the Iranian regime as an illegitimate, hostile and insane regime. Comments ##17 and 21 and establish the fact that this is not just an independent opinion of Alamolhoda, but the policy of the Supreme Leader.

Dealing with Iran is not the same as dealing with an ordinary sovereign state, with ordinary sovereign interests, nor even with a country with a general aspiration for world domination (such as the USSR). The Iranian regime exists, with the destruction of Israel as a main reason for its existence.

The Soviet leader, Nikita Khruschev, told the West in general, and the US in particular, "We will bury you". He did not claim that the Soviets intended to destroy us; he simply boasted that the Communist system would triumph to destroy America. Khamenei has gone further, directly threatening to attack Israel; and makes no mention of burial.

The US dealt with the Soviets with a policy of containment, and with an arms race; because they had no other option. With Iran, Israel has the option of direct military attack. If it fails in this, a policy of containment and a nuclear arms race in the Middle East will surely follow, with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey arming themselves to the teeth. Even the UAE has independently threatened to go nuclear.. That will be a "Cold War", with more and hotter heads than the one we had with the Soviets. It has the potential to destabilize the whole Middle East, and to cause an interminable world-wide conflict.

These are the choices facing the negotiators in Geneva, and facing the Israeli leader.

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