So Saddam was a good dictator when both the U.S. and U.K. governments were agreeing arms deals and development of his chemical/biological weapons programmes? Weapons which were later not only utilised in the conflicts you mention but also against kurdish civilians.

No matter what you or I think about the rein and removal of Saddam, under international law there are only three means of justification for declaring war on another nation;

1. Self Defence
2. Humanitatrian intervention
3. Enforcement of United Nations Security Council regulations

We went in under the auspices of self-defence, with the whole bullshit WMD story, only when that became clearly ficticious did we promote the humanitarian intervention line, strange, since the Lancet medical journal estimates that more than 650,000 iraqi's have died since the war began in 2003 than would have otherwise. In summary we went there based on lies and deceit, and now look on as oil companies and defence contractors look to bleed both Iraqi resources and American taxpayers dry.

While you and others might bang on about bringing democracy to the middle east, it's well worth looking back to 1953, when, for the first time in history, Iran installed democratic rule. What was the U.S. and U.K.'s response, Operation Ajax, which overthrew the new government and re-installed the Shah to power, oil revenues being more important than democracy in this case.

You cant just pick out the sections of history that suit your arguement and ignore those that dont.

[/rant]

By the way the US Congress actually wants a swift withdrawel of troops from Iraq and are pressuring President Bush to set a date for withdrawel. It is a shame the Iraqis cant stop fighting amongst themselves then the troops could come home sooner.

How can a nation with thousands of nuclear warheads tell another nation seeking the same not to do it solely because they say so. The USA after all is the only nation to have used this weapon in combat.
I want all nations to get rid of their bombs, weapons, military and borders. Imagine.........

There is a very big difference between the United States and Iran. The United States is a democracy. Iran is an autocratic theoracy practicing and extreme form of Islamic law. Iran has also made threats against Israel and makes no secret of its support of Islamic terrorist groups like Hezbollah and Hamas. It also aides insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan.

America is only acting in the best interests of the world by getting tough with Iran. It wants to get tough with Iran now inorder to avoid much greater danger later. After all if the world had stood up to Germany in 1934 when it remilitaralised the Rhineland we would never have had World War II.

Iran is a danger not just because of its nuclear ambitions but because it has for decades sponsered Islamic terrorist groups such as Hezbollah in Palestine and more recently Islamic insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It also has amongst the worlds worst human rights record with harsh sharia law being imposed with the use of beheading and stoning to death for many often minor crimes.

Have you ever been to Iran? Or the usa, come to that? Or do you just glean your opinion out of the middle pages of The Sun? I am not saying I disagree with everything you say altogether greystone, but for goodness sake, if you want to come across with a balanced, well-informed point of view - you aint gonna do it by quoting/plagerising the tabloids.
Just to make some random points, Iran has a very well-oiled society - good schools, good hospitals.....In Iraq no Christian was ever demonised/attacked until AFTER Saddam was ousted....if you want to talk about human rights abuses take a good hard FACTUAL look at Guatanamo Bay, and any Death Row prison in the usa....I am not an Iranian or american living in those countries so I cant pretend to know more than I do, but I do know one thing: its useless trying to pretend you are an expert on other people's countries if you've never even been there greystone and don't have first hand experience/information - spouting quotes from the tabloids is not expert opinion, any which way you look at at it.

The Iranian President has said that 'Israel is a pest that should be wiped of the map'. Yes he's crazy but at least with him it's all words and no action whereas with us and the US we kill and do the questioning after. What determins whether one country should have the right to "nuclear protection" if another has no right?

It's no wonder that they are making our lives difficult by any means possible when we do as we please and follow blindly in the footsteps of our American counterparts.

We need to wake up and stop claiming we are the voice of righteousness. No wonder we are the most hated nation in the world, second only to the USA!

More superpowers is the way forward![/quote]

its not time to get tough with anyone this is 2008 wars have not created peace because if they did there will be no wars today war is only ever created by two things one is religon and the other is greed people invade other peoples land because its to their advantage otherwise why would they do it make love not war peace to all

Iran is looking to the furture, as in if one can do it why not another. This is the main point that some people seem to foget, it's as simple as that really, when you take away all the bullshit that is spilled form the media, it's about power and who wants the power to controll everything

' We have to own space for military purposes'

Bush administration

http://www.chomsky.info/articles/20080101.htm