To paint it a little more colorful, here's an article for you, and just one quote:

"Binyamin Netanyahu tells his colleagues that Iran is 3 to 5 years from being able to produce a nuclear weapon"

Guess when did he say this? 20, yet twenty years ago in 1992!!. The rhetoric is stll the same, and nothing happens.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-09-29/guest-post-iran%E2%80%99s-imminent-nuclear-weapon

If you take sides in that mess, you're retarded.

Yeah but in the meantime his own government made relentless efforts to stop it right? And Israel even bombed Iran's nuclear construction sites. The statement could have very well been true if under the clause "unless we do something about it."

Netanyahu looked nuts with his stupid bomb placard. Iran looked moderatw by comparison.

All that said, I''m almost sure there will be some kind of military action in the foreseeable future.

Iran is fairly democratic, so is Israel. It doesnt matter when religion is the problem.

Bibi bomb will bomb Iran in the spring, sooner if Romney bomb buys the election.

@Putin: if you look at it degree-wise though, I believe it's safe to say that Israel's more democratic than Iran is. Not excusing their obvious mistakes though, but I do believe that they're much more political about this thing than Iran is.

The score so far...

Iran: Putin33, rokakoma
Israel: urallLESBIANS, redhouse

It's a tie.

I'm not on Iran's side at all, I would glady see them kicked in the ass, because I can't stand their leadership and that all the ruling system is based on religion. All I just wanted to point out this media hype is going on for 20 years now.

Israel portrays every adversary as genocidal al Qaeda allies. Theyre just as manichean as the iranians. Meanwhile the house of saud laughs at them both.

Zmaj has the reading comprehension of a toddler. Dont mind him.

I'm not really into the discussion of whether Iran has nuclear weapons or not, and whether we should support a bombing or not. I don't necessarily support Israel, beyond that they have the right to live in their own country without persecution. I believe they have very aggressive real estate practices supported by Zionism in the initial establishment of Israel and currently, which is at least one reason to be angry with them. Thanks for the article rokakoma.

I asked because I think a lot of people (I'm no exception) have the idea in their head that this would mean the elimination of Jews or that they would kick the rest out. I think the wording is very vague, possibly because they don't want to admit they are working towards nuclear weapons. This gives us the impression that there are only extreme results and no middle ground, which distorts our view. In reality it seems more likely they just want to replace the political state of Israel, with something less nationalist and dominated more by Islamic interests. If that means bombing it to hell, they'd probably do it. I'm not saying that the elimination of Israel in any form would be acceptable. I think ultimately both sides are at fault, but it is ultimately the extremists on both sides that take things too far.

Either way I was surprised to find that there is a small (second largest in the middle east) "protected" community of Jews in Iran itself. I'm not saying they aren't persecuted. However, maybe the extremism isn't as complete as we sometimes believe.
http://www.sephardicstudies.org/iran.html#

Iran keeps pushing and pushing and pushing and one day Israel is going to push back really really hard. I think there's even a chance that Israel will nuke the deepest Iranian sites 'cos they're too deep down to be sure of reaching them with conventional weapons.

What I can't see is an upside for Iran *after* Israel flattens their nuclear sites.

I think the Spring time frame is a ruse. The obvious time for a sustained bombing campaign seems to me to be late December when the days are shortest and the nights longest. Iv'e read several places that Israel would need a few weeks to even have a chance of getting the job done successfully, so longer nights can only make things easier.

Of course, there is an extremely compelling reason to wait. Iran has its presidential election in June 2013. If there's something like the Green Movement again then the rotten theocracy now running Iran could possibly be overthrown. Neither a reelected Obama nor a President Romney would waste such an opportunity again. I bet that's what Obama really means when he and the administration talk about waiting. They're probably betting on a Persian Spring.

The King of Jordan was on the Daily Show, and he had an interesting take on the whole situation. Essentially, as long as Palestine and Israel are not at peace, there will be this tense situation. If Israel and Palestine could come to peace, a whole bunch of things would probably ease, including the Iranian nuke thing. There is no peace anywhere in sight. They can't even get to the table anymore. On top of that, Israel is doing this aggressive settlement thing. Honestly, I find both sides to be pretty much equal at this point. Israel is horrid in the attacks and settlements. Palestine is doing horrible attacks. Israel is much more efficient at it, because they are so much stronger and they have cover from America and England.

The strange thing about the Iranian situation, is that supposedly Ahmadinejad offered to let go of the nuke program before Bush, jr. dubbed them part of the access of evil. As for bombing their sites, I believe it was decided it is pretty much impossible now. They are spread out all over the place, and buried deep. Unless you want to just kill everyone in Iran, it isn't going to happen. Anyway, I don't think Israel would survive the backlash of the attack. France has supposedly vowed to send a nuclear bomb at any country that launches one. Even if they don't do that, America and England won't be able to shield them from the diplomatic and violent repercussions. It also encourages every country that doesn't have nukes to get them quickly. No one has used them in so long, that they are just kind of the elephant in the corner. If they come into common use, it will change things. It would be better to just send in some sort of special forces team or use a computer virus (as they did).

"What I can't see is an upside for Iran *after* Israel flattens their nuclear sites."

Well, Iran would not have nukes. They seem to think that's enough. Would Hamas and Hezbollah go nuts? Of course. But Israel still has no conventional peer in the Middle East and none of its foes have nuclear weapons. Israel may become a pariah after an attack (nuclear or conventional) but it's immediate security could well be quite secure.

Or I could be completely wrong and there's a general war in the Middle East and beyond with hundreds of thousands or even millions dead. Let's hope we never find out.

That was another interesting item that I have heard. There will be nothing going on with Iran or with the Palestinian/Israeli thing until after the presidential election, so everyone is sure who they will be working with.

I heard someone on NPR saying that moods are souring towards Israel in the UK. That may be one reason that there is this huge push right now with regards to Iran. If Israel waits for a couple years, they may lose one of their two guardians in the UN Security Council.

Netanyahu is a fucking nutjob. The joke of this is somehow no jews seem to understand how electing these nut job war hawks is undermining the Jewish state. Its pitiful. The unholy alliance of christian Evangelicals, Orthodox Jews and Neocons through AIPAC is going to be the end of Israel far more likely than Iran

@Invictus: I can see the upside for Israel, but I said I couldn't see an upside for Iran. Iran is pushing this and the only outcome if they don't stop development is going to be an Israeli attack. What does Iran get out of that? Why are they pushing Israel so hard? Nobody else in the region likes Israel and Israel attacking Iran isn't going to change that (except that they'll like them even less, but that wont matter much - none of them have the moxie to go after Israel militarily anyway).

Iran is already having a hyperinflation thanks to sanctions imposed by the US. I think if they do it right they can crush the country economically to the ground. No government can survive that and their own nation will ovethrow them. If not they still can do the bombardment, but it's much more easier to change the system if you can ignite a revolution with any reason. This time, hyperinflation.

Forget England, how long is America going to sit by idly as Netanyahu and his ilk attempts to directly influence American politics while continually slapping this country in the face. On one hand the right wingers demand alot from the united states, with the other they continuously lash out at any attempt the US makes to exert any bit of control. Fuck them. Supporters of Israel need to understand that the state cannot afford to be at war with all of its neighbors. The Jewish vote is waning. Muslim population and influence in the US is growing, and the evangelical alliance is far from sure, and certainly should not be desirable.

But instead of pursuing peace Israeli politics churn out corrupt blowhards who think that gods favor rather than US support is what is keeping Israel afloat. It has to stop and soon or it will be too late.

Yep, America and Israel are allowed nuclear wepaons but not Iran for some weird (not really) double standard. Anyway, they are both fucking crazy.

Largeham when did the U.S. threaten to use their nukes to kill an entire religious group? Oh yea...they havent. Who has? Iran.

A) Israel =/= all Jews in the world

B) Which is the only country to use nuclear weapons in war? The US, twice, against civilian targets.

idiots like tyran are why idiots like netanyahu are able to drive israel off a cliff.

Largeham...one of the U.S. targets was a military base and both were cities with major war industries. And I'm fairly certain Israel has the largest Jewish population in the world.
About 43% of the world’s Jewish community lives in Israel, making Israel the country with the largest Jewish population. The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics reported on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, 5773, that the total population of Israel in 2012 grew to nearly 8 million. The U.S. killed far less than 43% of Japans population. And no where near 8 million people in those bombings

People who use name calling just can't think of facts to defend their position :D Santa thanks for helping me make a point .