Ted Rall for March 09, 2015

Exactly why we need to stop them.Their “Constitution” says that the complete destruction of Isreal and the Jews is the ultimate goal.If they get nukes, get ready for WW III!

If Iran using nukes is WWIII, Israel would end it in minutes. Europe had the 100 years war; Israel had the six-days war.

Oh come on. It’s not like the US has ever given Iran reason to think we’d invade them. Oh, wait. The US had already overthrown their government and installed a wildly unpopular puppet who was loyal to the US. That might explain why the government who over threw the US puppet is so hostile to the US.

This is sad but true. Iran has reason to believe they need protection from us. I think they’re as crazy as hoot owls for their religious stuff, but this is something that is quite rational. It will be interesting to see if they will actually accept a deal. I hope they do, as I think we have squeezed them as much as we can With sanctions, especially now that energy prices are down. Squeeze some more, and they will drop the negotiations and go back to building a nuclear weapon (or a few of them) in a program that is virtually impossible to control by external military means. If we are ever going to get a deal, now is the time. The five nation negotiating group is doing a fabulous job. I, for one, hope they succeed.

Uncomfortably good comic.

For the US, it would be a lot of work to invade North Korea, with no payoff. China, on the other hand, has some big problems with North Korea. So I believe North Korea’s nuclear effort is to keep off the Chinese, not the Americans.

@ConserveGov:It’s time for a reality check. Do you really think they would start a war with their one or two nukes? They would be obliterated in a matter of minutes. I could go on, but why bother? Being right means you have no need to be correct.

@ ahab:Are you sure that emission wasn’t from the other end?

In the long run, some looney is going to be in charge of a country with nukes. Not this year, maybe, not in the next fifty years, maybe, but sometime. That’s why we need to figure out how to get rid of them. Or grow up as a species.

Ted, while your logic is sound, and it does make sense to the Iranians, it is still not the best route to take. Since before 1914, the “deterrent” theory has prevailed; If all were similarly armed, then there would be peace. Didn’t happen then, didn’t happen during the 1930’s. Fortunately it did work during the US-USSR cold war. I credit that to the fact that just enough cool, intelligent people were in key posts to make it work.Although I do not trust the Iranian mullahs with having nuclear weapons, I give credit to the current administration for attempting a deal. At the first sign of non-compliance, we can walk away. No one can say the US didn’t try. Nuclear weapons are dangerous enough in any government’s hands. It is especially risky, and fearsome for them to be in the hands of any theocratic government. The temptation to be "God’s/Allah’s instrument is just too tempting!

The ‘toon is pretty much right on. I think we SHOULD give Iran the same number of nukes Israel has, and demand international inspections and controls on both those countries. Which, Persia hasn’t invaded Greece recently, but maybe with their oil revenue, that would be boosted if they could use nuclear for their power needs and export more oil, they could help Greece out with that economy problem?

Good points! I am not certain they are working on these weapons now, either. I tend to think they are not because of their declaration that nuclear weapons would be contrary to their understanding of Islam. But it is wiser to assume they have an ongoing program than to assume they do not. But if we push sanctions further, or, much worse, attack militarily or support a military attack, my guess is that the Iranian military will have grounds to persuade the clerics that self defense requires an accelerated program to develop nuclear weapons.

This is shocking. They might as well be calling for war.

It’s like I said, Harley: The US TRIED! No one can accuse us of not trying!

Just read your links. My God, WHY must these people in Washington DC continue to show our friends (any left?) neutrals, and potential enemies just how #&*^@=! we are??Our credibility as a world leader has been eroding for decades, and a hundred or so years from now, historians will be analyzing our time probably far more than the Nazi or Napoleonic eras! They will probably all be asking “How could something which started rather well have plummeted so deeply?”

By the way, this 62-year old bull moose finally found a good company which doesn’t think older workers are useless. I have just completed two weeks at my new job, learned their computer system and am doing well! And, since my own computer died at the same time, I am using the one in my town library for now. I want to wait for Windows 10 to be released, then buy a new computer. My daily preaching will be curtailed a bit, no loss to some, but you will still have me to kick around some more! And I’ll still kick back!(Thanks to some of you who have wished me luck, in my job search in the past!)

Thanks, ted for the concise statement of the situation. Excellent work (as usual)!