Dailymail: Iran is now a 'nuclear state'

[twa]

yes I do think them incompetent and incapable for the most part, but what the hell do I know?

Anyway, the timing of the announcement makes me think it's more for internal propaganda purposes. A few airstrikes wouldn't be the worst case scenario for them in either case.

I agree it was for propaganda,it keeps providing justification for excesses both in spending and restricting rights.

The Great Satan is gonna be the bogyman no matter what our course.

Even O is beginning to grasp that.

[Corcaigh]

So our best intelligence says they don't have the capability to make a bomb at this time. The sites we do know about aren't capable of delivering what the Iranian leadership claims about their program.

So those of you who don't trust our intelligence to be correct, which sites do you think we should bomb? The facilities we don't know about?

[twa]

So our best intelligence says they don't have the capability to make a bomb at this time. The sites we do know about aren't capable of delivering what the Iranian leadership claims about their program.

So those of you who don't trust our intelligence to be correct, which sites do you think we should bomb? The facilities we don't know about?

You mean that interpretation of our best intelligence?

We ignore intelligence from other countries stating otherwise.

Le Bon temps Roule :saber:

added

how did that Syrian reactor bit work out?

If ya decide to strike ya do it w/o granting benefit of doubt on sites,like that baby formula factory

You can easily give them enough other problems to solve that enrichment will be well down the list.

[mcsluggo]

Although it also occurs to me to wonder what somebody would hope to gain from claiming "I don't have nuclear weapons, but I will in a few months".

To me, that's like telling some guy in a bar fight that you're going out to your car to get your gun: You've told your opponent "You'd better attack me right now, or else!"

I can't think of anything the could possibly say or do that would be more likely to bring retribution down upon their country.

Which makes me wonder: Is retribution what they want?

(Seems to me like, quietly building a bomb and then announcing it, would be a much less dangerous path for them to go down.)

yes, very true.

the heat his administration is feeling from INSIDE the country is clearly still strong, and still causing problems. He NEEDS to divert/focus some of this heat back towards the outside world. For him, the BEST thing that could happen would be an Israeli airstrike. It would be pure mana from heaven. Of course the SECOND best thing would be to be allowed to continue to thumb his nose at the "imperialist aggressors" without any effective retribution. his administration truly sucks at much of the political strategery it has been trying to play... but they have played this nationalistic nuke card very well internally. It is a win-win situation for him (AS LONG as the chinese and russians continue to give tacit approval for him to keep on going down this road)