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43k votes and We would have the next führer.

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Good to see.

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[Thanos]

I suspect that Iran might be so far ahead in their pursuit of nukes that it's pointless to go back to the old deal. Another legacy of Trump, probably one of the worst ones too, in that Iran will most likely become the first Islamic nuclear power in short order simply because they accelerated their programs so much since Trump abrogated the deal that in their view they might as well proceed to the ultimate conclusion the same way North Korea accomplished.

There's no point in worrying about Republican triangulation anyway. They're going to act like slime and immediately pivot to an anti-Biden stance no matter what policy is developed. The AUMF's (authorized use of military force) that Congress approved in the Bush years are set to expire quite soon. If Biden wants them renewed the GOP will call him a warmonger. If he wants them to expire they'll call him a leftist coward sympathetic to Islamic terrorists. So just make a policy and forge ahead, no matter what these alt-right jackals in the Congress are going to say. The dumbest failure will be in trying to get them to co-operate or to accommodate them. So just proceed and use executive orders & the Dem majority in Congress while it exists. There is no other path to take anymore as the GOP have to be regarded as mortal an enemy to the new US government as much as Putin, China, or the Muslim terrorists out there are.

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Scape Scape:

Good to see.

Interesting follow-up on this story.

[Thanos]

Good sign they got rid of that dipshit that quickly. If it had been a Trump advisor who behaved that way the son of a bitch would have been given a major position at Trump Org as a reward for being all extra alpha-male-y and "tough".

[Sunnyways]

Thanos Thanos:

I suspect that Iran might be so far ahead in their pursuit of nukes that it's pointless to go back to the old deal. Another legacy of Trump, probably one of the worst ones too, in that Iran will most likely become the first Islamic nuclear power in short order simply because they accelerated their programs so much since Trump abrogated the deal that in their view they might as well proceed to the ultimate conclusion the same way North Korea accomplished.

Pakistan is already a nuclear power and probably more unstable than Iran. Even if the Iranians do make a small number of nukes I don’t see how that will threaten the US. Anyway, the Middle East is going to become less important strategically. The main challenge there is to stop countries becoming Chinese satellites like Pakistan and paving a route to Europe. The Iranians are already fearful of this but have very few options.

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[bootlegga]

Thanos Thanos:

I suspect that Iran might be so far ahead in their pursuit of nukes that it's pointless to go back to the old deal. Another legacy of Trump, probably one of the worst ones too, in that Iran will most likely become the first Islamic nuclear power in short order simply because they accelerated their programs so much since Trump abrogated the deal that in their view they might as well proceed to the ultimate conclusion the same way North Korea accomplished.

There's no point in worrying about Republican triangulation anyway. They're going to act like slime and immediately pivot to an anti-Biden stance no matter what policy is developed. The AUMF's (authorized use of military force) that Congress approved in the Bush years are set to expire quite soon. If Biden wants them renewed the GOP will call him a warmonger. If he wants them to expire they'll call him a leftist coward sympathetic to Islamic terrorists. So just make a policy and forge ahead, no matter what these alt-right jackals in the Congress are going to say. The dumbest failure will be in trying to get them to co-operate or to accommodate them. So just proceed and use executive orders & the Dem majority in Congress while it exists. There is no other path to take anymore as the GOP have to be regarded as mortal an enemy to the new US government as much as Putin, China, or the Muslim terrorists out there are.

I agree with most of what you've said here, but Pakistan as the first Islamic nuclear power.

[Thanos]

Ayuh. My error, as SW pointed out earlier. Maybe that's the Iranian plan. Build a nuke, watch the US suddenly change their tune, and become some kind of hands-off client state the same way Pakistan became after 9/11. The bonus to Iran is that the US would have to work to keep the Saudis away from them, which is the main reason Iran is doing this in the first place, and then score all the same benefits Pakistan has from becoming a quasi/pseudo friend of America again. As the Law of Infinite Perversity is the only natural law that ever really applies to the human condition it would be all kinds of hilarious ironic that an arch-enemy building a nuclear weapon generates a lengthy period of stepped-down peace and greatly reduced hostilities instead of kicking over the lantern that burns the entire planet down. lol.

[bootlegga]

Thanos Thanos:

Ayuh. My error, as SW pointed out earlier. Maybe that's the Iranian plan. Build a nuke, watch the US suddenly change their tune, and become some kind of hands-off client state the same way Pakistan became after 9/11. The bonus to Iran is that the US would have to work to keep the Saudis away from them, which is the main reason Iran is doing this in the first place, and then score all the same benefits Pakistan has from becoming a quasi/pseudo friend of America again. As the Law of Infinite Perversity is the only natural law that ever really applies to the human condition it would be all kinds of hilarious ironic that an arch-enemy building a nuclear weapon generates a lengthy period of stepped-down peace and greatly reduced hostilities instead of kicking over the lantern that burns the entire planet down. lol.

D'oh, I missed sunnyway's post!

As much as I hate nuclear proliferation, I completely understand North Korea and Iran's rush to get nuclear weapons - they don't want to wind up like Iraq did, invaded and occupied by the Americans because there was a threat they might get a nuclear weapon.

At the same time, especially given how erratic both country's leaders are, I understand the Americans' position on wanting to deny both nations nuclear weapons.

Hopefully it will work itself out in some perverse fashion as you noted.

According to some prognosticators, the US is going to enter a more isolationist phase and stop meddling in the Middle East and elsewhere and focus on the Western Hemisphere, Pacific, and on a few key allies. If that happens, it may well turn out that this proliferation goes relatively peacefully, at least for the West. Then again, that focus on the Pacific may ruffle North Korea's feathers and cause even more problems.

As the curse goes, may you live in interesting times...