Iran's promise: '80 seconds of hell'

Originally posted by ShadowXIXIts not publicly known to be operational. Do you think the goverment tells the public when every military project goes operational

I'm sure your government would be extremely eager to keep something that would make its citizens safer a secret

Originally posted by naked_turk

Originally posted by ShadowXIXIts not publicly known to be operational. Do you think the goverment tells the public when every military project goes operational

I'm sure your government would be extremely eager to keep something that would make its citizens safer a secret

They have been messing around with lasers weapons for quite a long time before the public even knew they were possible.

The goverment really likes to keep secrets from the public its what they do. Space based weapons are suppose to make its citizens safer but did they tell the public when they went operational?

If Irancan only muster some terrorist attacks and 80 seconds of hell theyre in trouble...

Once the USA knew it was them tons of whoop arse would be dropped on them and theyd regress 80 years at least.

If they think 80 seconds of hell is worth 80 days of carpet bombing, then they deserve what they will get.

Originally posted by Indy
Didn't I just read a story that said Iran was getting ready to launch its first satellite? If they can put a satellite into space they can hit us. Also how do we know its a satellite and not a tool to deliver a handfull of warheads from orbit?

- The last thing a country like Iran is going to do is commit suicide by sending it's one (or even the unlikely few?) missile(s) at the USA only to receive a massive retaliation in return.

(nevermind the whole issue that they do not have nuclear weapons anyway.....see latest IAEA reports for details about what they think that 'refined uranium contamination' was, that the US gov then decided to ignore anyway)

Missiles are about the last thing you need to be worrying about, the calling card they leave is so clear and distinct that the return address for any response is way to obvious.

I'm sorry to break it to you guys but a suicide bomber not caring for his or her own personal life is altogether different to the leaders of a nation deciding to suicide their own nation just to loose off one or two 'hits'.

Calm down and cut the hysteria. Iran has never attacked anybody first and IMO is not going to start with the USA.

Still, IMO this isn't really about US security.

This is about the Israelis getting the US to dance to their tune.

They seem to have decided they are the only ones to have nuclear weapons in that region and anyone even coming close to any of that is, surprise surprise, suddenly "45minutes away from threatening the USA!".

I usually don't buy anti-Israel stories because of their blatent anti-semitism but this isn't anti-semitism this is just how I see them pulling strings and attempting to maintain their regional dominance, particularly in view of the latest spy scandals and information coming out about their subversive activities.

Still, if you guys want to give US lives for them feel free, but let's stop pretending the governments of Iran or Syria are attempting to do anything to the US or any of the rest of us.

[edit on 7-9-2004 by sminkeypinkey]

I like the idea of a defiant Iran attacking from unexpected areas linking that to satellite launch's and spaced based weapons. Getting the admitedly far fetched idea, but how long would a missile take from orbit to hit the planet?
And could you tell who attacked you?
and would twenty to thirty medium yield warheads decimate the US?
some interesting concepts.

A couple selections from the Journal of the Air Force Association, December 2002. I assure you the article is much longer than these selections. I present these as facts and call particular attention to bolded text:

Iran's strategic position in the Middle East is a crossroads of trouble. To its east lies Afghanistan, to its west, Iraq. To the north are Turkmenistan and other unstable nations carved out of the former Soviet Union. To the south, across the Persian Gulf, are Saudi Arabia and the smaller oil states, whose Sunni version of Islam has long been in conflict with Iran's dominant Shiite Muslims.

Thus, earlier this year, Iran took delivery of a shipment of North Korean gunboats that US intelligence believes will be converted into guided-missile warships. Combined with other recent naval and coastal defense acquisitions, which range from Russian Kilo-class submarines to Chinese Silkworm anti-ship missiles, the new boats could help Iran control important sections of the Persian Gulf in a crisis--including the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's navy is one of the more capable maritime forces in the region. It has 10 Kaman missile patrol boats and 10 Houdong missile patrol boats--most equipped with C802 anti-ship missiles-- along with three missile frigates and two corvettes. Western naval analysts are perhaps most concerned about Iran's five submarines, which given the constricted nature of the waterways in the region could close ship lanes for at least a short period of time.

Iran has for years had an across-the-board program of WMD development. Although it is a party to the Chemical Weapons Convention, it has produced and stockpiled blister, blood, and choking chemical agents, according to US intelligence. It has a biological weapons arsenal and may be able to indigenously produce enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon by late this decade, says a CIA estimate.

Iranian officials have spoken openly of their desire for missiles with a range beyond that of their Shahab-3, which can hit targets up to 800 miles away. The CIA believes Iran may flight-test a missile of intercontinental capability later this decade. The Iranian military has already deployed unmanned aerial vehicles, including some configured for attack, and may be seeking more sophisticated such aircraft to serve as a WMD delivery capability.

Assistance from Russia, China, and North Korea that Administration officials have called "sustained cooperation" may be helping Iran's WMD work along. The US has long pressured Russia to cease its help in constructing Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant, for instance, with little success.

The US concern about Iran's weapons programs is heightened by the regime's continued support for terrorism. In fact, it is arguably Tehran--not Baghdad--that is the terror capital of the Middle East. The US State Department has judged Iran the world's most active state sponsor of terrorist acts, with both Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Ministry of Intelligence and Security providing planning, funds, and weapons.

www.afa.org...

So here you have a country that has a history of being targetted by US and British intelligence, was the target of a CIA coup, has demonstrated the means and desire to develop WMD programs, and has knowingly supported and encouraged terrorism. They are in a strategic location in the middle east and worse yet have diplomatic ties to former/current communist threats to the United States (one of whom, NK, has recently stated that the US is not the only country that is entitled to make a preemptive attack). If we were to begin carpet bombing Iran as a response to their involvement in the middle east, I'm sure their long time allies would hop into the conflict.

Aljazeera published an interview with the Iranian defense minister regarding the conflict between Iran and Israel, which further complicates matters since Israel is a US ally:

Aug 19 2004

"We will not sit (with arms folded) to wait for what others will do to us. Some military commanders in Iran are convinced that preventive operations which the Americans talk about are not their monopoly," Shamkhani said when asked about the possibility of a US or Israeli strike against Iran's nuclear facilities.

"America is not the only one present in the region. We are also present, from Khost to Kandahar in Afghanistan; we are present in the Gulf and we can be present in Iraq," said Shamkhani.

Also:

"If Israel fires one missile at Bushehr atomic power plant, it should permanently forget about Dimona nuclear centre, where it produces and keeps its nuclear weapons, and Israel would be responsible for the terrifying consequence of this move," General Muhammad Baqir Zolqadr warned.

english.aljazeera.net...

Is anyone beginning to get slightly nervous about the next 4 years?

Iran currently does not posses a missle capable of reaching the US. However he shahab-6 is the longer range of the new class of Iranian missiles being developed in conjunction with North Korea. Iran could begin testing components of intercontinental ballistic missile in 2005.

I think the thing to stress hear with the threat from iran is the ability to complete the enrichment facility. I dont believe Israel will allow that to happen. They have said they would destroy the facility and they usually make good on there threats.

Another problem with there 80 seconds of hell threat is the journey of that missle to the US. I am sure we have a close eye on them and if our satelites detected a launch it is highly probable the missle would be shot down and we would respond with a limited but devasting retaliatory strike.

It appears to be a typical islamic extremist threat, not very intelligent. They must be complete idiots to think they would gain anything other than there certain destruction.