Originally posted by Karlhungis
reply to post by Nailer
They only care because of religious differences with the Jews.
If that's the case, why is the largest population of Jews outside Israel in the Middle East in Iran? Iran has clearly stated on many, many
occasions, that its problem with Israel is not a Muslim/Jewish thing, but an occupier/occupied thing. They simply don't want Israel walking all over
its Palestinian "citizens".
A'Jad is definitely crazy, that's for sure, but he's not the real power in Iran, but merely a figurehead. After 9/11, Iran was the US's best
non-Israel ally in the Middle East. They offered logistical support and help in tracking down the perpetrators of the attack. Condi Rice put an end
to that when she included them (and Iraq) in the Axis of Evil, to make it look less like a grudge against two particular countries, but a struggle
against, well, an axis. Iran didn't take too kindly to being called evil, and since then diplomatic ties (both direct and indirect) between the two
nations have become seriously sour.
Iran will never use a nuclear weapon, as their religious leaders have issued a fatwa saying it's illegal. They don't issue fatwas to appease
foreign nations, as that would be grossly disrespectful to the religious nature in which these fatwas are issued. Compare this to Israel who have
massed hundreds of warheads, and who's government is so paranoid and distrustful of any country that is not the US, and you'll see who the real
problem is. Israel has a horrific history of oppressing (some of) its people and a total lack of respect for its borders, or rather the borders of
its neighbours.
The way things are going, there will always be war in the Middle East, until Israel does something ridiculously stupid, which will either result in
the US withdrawing all financial support, or the rest of the world looking on in horror as the US and Israel become the newest members of the Axis of
Evil. Either way, it won't end well. The only way out of this would be for the US to sever its financial and political ties to Israel and let them
exist as an actual country, not some aligator-on-a-rope the US can dangle in the political landscape of the Middle East. If that happened, then
Israel would indeed be tested, definitely in a diplomatic sense, and if they have any sense themselves, they won't resort to military action to
bolster their position, which the Israeli government is always playing up as being tenuous, when it couldn't be further from the truth - Israel has
all the cards.