It's clear that there is absolutely nobody in the current Trump cabinet who possesses the necessary competency, and I have to assume the military leaders advising him are bottom-of-the-barrel incompetents as well, given that he or someone in the cabinet has selected them for that role. It's C teamers (or worse) across the board which is deeply concerning.

Iran is an oppressive terrorist state that is helping Russia fight in Ukraine (by cranking out drones for them) and its subsidiaries regularly target American soldiers and sailors. So I'm on board with taking out their nuclear program. But the fact that Trump usually endorses only evil plans makes me worry.

in Gaza or the one that just got attacked...unprovoked...sorta like Putin did to Ukraine.

And Israel wouldnt be bombing them if they knew they had one.

This thread will never see the OP again!

that Iran has stated that, if they want to build nuclear weapons, they are going to build them. Someone upthread mentioned the instability in the region. I don't want Iran to have nukes but I admit, if I were in their position, I'd want to be able to defend myself.

In spite of how messy it's likely to be.

whenever they respond to a post that's critical of russia. You don't happen to live in St. Petersburg do you? Anyway, well done!

You are just like those who advocated invading Iraq in 2003, remaining comfy in their recliners while American forces were cannon fodder. Not to mention a million Iraqis murdered. Armchair warriors.

Obama, Sarkozy and Brown less so

From the second link-

The United States government has built several "fortified underground fortresses under mountains" that have nothing to do with nuclear weapons, like Command Post Tango in Korea.

I'll come right out and say it: I believe Iran is trying to become a nuclear-armed state, and since no one will sell them any they have to make their own.

Iran ALSO knows Donald Trump is president of the United States and he spends all the time he's not making speeches, writing tweets, eating hamberders, profiteering from his office or playing golf trying to develop a moderately-plausible casus belli for attacking Iran. As such, they need a contingency headquarters for the government that can't be taken out by Tomahawk missiles.

In the past have sought refuge underground from any number of threats. Perhaps they are making a place of refuge for their people.

... ranks up there with the Easter Bunny.

They were also in negotiations with the US before Israel attacked them like they were when they made a deal with Obama which Netanyahu was against at the time.

Bomb bomb bomb - bomb bomb Iran!
Sung by John McCain years ago.

someone i follow on fb says seismographs detected something that cd b an underground test. take it for what it’s worth. seems like a good source who often has contrary evidence to what’s being peddled elsewhere.

i have no doubt they want them, r working on them, and wd love to lob them at israel. it’s their publicly stated goal to wipe out the jews. they’re major funders of hamas, as well as every terrorist group in the region.
i wouldnt wait around for them to do that.

The IAEA has confirmed this as well. Weapons grade is around 90%.

Commercial nuclear reactors only require 5% enriched uranium. The only reason to enrich this far is for weapons production.

The only question is how close Iran is to a bomb, not whether or not they're trying to build one.

and overthrowing their government is the way to get them to stop.

....that in the last few days, Israel answered your question.

They have the fissile material, the enriched uranium and/or plutonium - once any reasonably industrial state has that, actually building a bomb is a relatively simple exercise that shouldn't take more than half a year. Nuclear weapons are no longer a dark art, the basic plans are available on Reddit…the only hard part is getting the fuel.

Iran doesn't have a bomb because they don't want to make one, not because they can't. Japan could also have one in six months but nobody is complaining about them…

Frankly, it's insulting to Japan to try to lump the two together.

I mean, if i were an evil overlord running an authoritarian theocracy, or an authoritarian country of any kind, or even just me in 5th grade, I would definitely want a fortified underground fortress. Seriously. That's gotta be in the top 10 reasons to even be an evil overlord, or a generic Bond villain, in the first place. A lot of the evil stuff you have to do is repetitive and lame, but the underground fortress is where you get to be creative. Bonus points if you build it in an active volcano.

We'll try to stay serene and calm
When Alabama gets the bomb!"

1. Israel is a rogue state in the midst of genocide.

2. Iran is a terrorist state run by nihilistic religious fanatics who should never, never have nuclear weapons.

Both can be true.

I do not support the United States being directly involved in this war, or lending financial or logistical support to it. Let them fight it out. Maybe the last nation standing will be too weak to commit resources to genocide or supporting terror groups. I was going to say "will be peaceful" but the region will be blood-soaked as long as the Abrahamic religions exist.

That said, because fundamentalist Christianity is a death cult whose only use for Israel is as a tool to end the world, doesn't mean my opposition to them includes supporting Iran. If Israel can wipe them off the map on their own, I won't shed a tear.

#1 is only true if you're using the HAMAS-inspired definition of the word "genocide". Israel has welcomed outsiders since Israel has existed, giving them voting-rights and even the right to hold positions in government. When anyone calls Israel "genocidal", it's the biggest :rolleyes moment ever.

On the other side of the coin, Iran has made it a mission-statement to destroy Israel and exterminate the jews.

Israel isn't always "the good guy", but it's sad how some people want to act like they're always "the bad guys", and then support anyone who opposes them. It's just hopping on a bandwagon of murderous hate.

If your were indiscriminately being bombed with some of the most sophisticated weapons on earth, wouldn't you dig deep to protect valuables and perhaps prepare national shelters to protect your energy resources?

The underground missile bases store their ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and launchers - according to Groc.

Iran also has underground air and naval bases.

I was responding to this quote:

"wouldn't you dig deep to protect valuables and perhaps prepare national shelters to protect your energy resources?"