mc...you make the argument yourself for taking extraordinary measures to keep wmd`s out of the hands of radical or unstable middle eastern governments.... of which egypt is not one...
and of course,your argument is flawed in it`s initial premise....
israel has no intention of "attacking the middle east" unless they are threatened...and the only way they are threatened is if unstable,violent,radical islamist leaders are able to acquire.....or are in the process of acquiring nuclear weapons....certainly iran doesn`t need nuclear power....while a major portion of the world`s energy supply flows underneath their sandals....
israel has nuclear weapons....they have not used them....even when saddam launched scuds into their country during his removal from kuwait by the u.n....
they sat on their hands...
they do not want more war...if the balance of power in the middle east shifts....i.e. the iraq``s,iran`s,syria`s acquire the ultimate weapon,just how much more unstable do you think this volatile region will become? .....
exponentially more unstable...
and not just to israel..and not just to our economy......but the world`s economy....if our economy collapses,does anyone think the rest of the world won`t be affected?.....
china`s(now a huge middle eastern oil customer )budding economy and industrial revolution would die....
it`s in everybody`s best interests to keep the status quo in the middle east.....
that`s why the u.n....whose leaders appear more interested in lining their pockets than securing the world`s economy and keeping the middle east dormant,are a very scary bunch.....
they seem to be extremely shortsighted...
which is why i can`t for the life of me understand why the u.n. isn`t more interested in nipping the iranian situation in the bud....
unless,of course,the payoffs are in progress as they were in iraq....
if there is some sort of major conflict in the middle east....and iran had wmd`s,there will be no more israel....make no mistake.....
and my guess is a major portion of iran will be uninhabitable for around 100 years....maybe a good portion of the middle east...
how can any clear thinking entity not see that this scenario can never be allowed to happen?....
how we could afford to ignore the iraq situation...not knowing whether they actually had wmd`s(and nobody knew for sure....saddam blocked the inspectors time and again).....knowing the potential holocaust that could result...
the war is a mess...but you just can`t ignore the fact that there was some rationale for removing saddam....
was it a mistake?...we may never know.....
and it`s not the same situation as n.korea....the ramifications for nuclear war in the middle east are 10 fold more catastrophic than a conflagration in the pacific....there are no indications that the n.koreans can reach the west coast with any sort of nuclear weapon...and that WOULD indeed be suicide for them...
japan could disappear....s.korea .too...but i don`t think china will allow n. korea to shit in their backyard...not while n.korea basically exists on aid from china...
and i don`t mean to dismiss the peril to japan and s.korea...it just doesn`t present the same ramifications as a full blown middle eastern conflict...