No. You're wrong.
For starters, it is far from certain that Iran would use nukes on Israel. Israel is a useful propoganda tool to Iran's mullahs and little more. Iranians are NOT Arabs. They do not give a crap about the plight of the Palestinians (even compared to the actual Arabs, whose actual caring for them is very suspect). Yes, they care about the Holy Land, but... it's not there. It's not next to them.
Quite frankly, Iran is concerned primarily with its preservation of itself, especially as the foremost (and for a long time only) Shi'a regime. In that sense, nukes are an obvious goal towards self-preservation. The world isn't blind. They can see the difference between North Korea and Iraq just fine, and while there's many other reasons besides the fact North Korea could actually defend itself, that is one that weighs heavily in the minds of countries, especially Islamic countries, who look askance at the specter of a country that has invaded a terrifying number of Islamic nations in the last twenty-five years, now led by a president on a self-described "crusade".
Iran is not a backwards desert. It's a very progressive and advanced country for the region. They have quite genially agreed to a cease-fire when at war before. The people of Iran are, in large part, educated, well-spoken, well-dressed. They have an enormous amount of pride in their ancient, sophisticated culture and the Persian language, which predates Christianity, let alone Islam. They listen to rock music and Freddie Mercury is so revered that the government officially licenses his albums. They are not desperate, starving people.
Here's the thing that the world shows over and over and over and over again. Happy, well-fed people don't want to die for a cause. The fact that in the US, the majority of grunt soldiers are poor people is neither hidden nor considered unusual. Your President, a rich boy from Connecticut, never saw a moment of action; nor did the vice president, nor the president that preceded him.
Iranians are not stupid. They are not ignorant. They are people. They know perfectly well that Israel has its own nuclear weapons. You ASSUME the moment they get them they'll attack Israel. Not threaten, not use as leverage in bargaining, but attack. And for what? To prove a point? To get themselves annihilated just so they can take out Israel for the benefit of a bunch of Arabs? Pfah.
Perhaps you will shoot back with "religious fanatics". Pfah, again. Religious fanatics will die for a cause if they have to, yes. How the Iranians hurled the US-equipped Iraqi army back across their borders is an important lesson. But that was when their backs were against the wall. Iran didn't occupy Iraq, either. They agreed to a cease-fire. Or look at the Iranian hostage crisis, where the Ayatollah happily negotiated with Ronald Reagan for the release of the hostages during the election campaign of 1980, then did so, having already won the propoganda victory. Assuming these people are blind or stupid is, in and of itself, blind and stupid.
I'll say it flat out: Iran will not attack Israel unless it is forced to do so. They want nuclear weapons, yes. They will use them to increase their power in the world, yes. They hate Israel, yes. But they want to survive, they want IRAN to survive, far more than they hate Israel. That's why there's not a war going on right now - because Iran couldn't win it, and they know it. They can't win a nuclear exchange, either, and they know it. Happy, educated, well-fed people don't want to die to prove a point. And they won't.
But back them up against the wall with yet another insane, unprovoked, preemptive attack, and they will hit you back with a ferocity that will amaze you just like it amazed the Iraqis. To say nothing of the incredible amount of consequences that will accrue from such an attack. To say nothing of the profound implications of using nuclear weapons in an unprovoked attack against a weaker nation. To say nothing of the fact that preemptively declaring war against a weaker nation over something they MIGHT do is evil, is wrong, is insane, is stupid, is any number of other things and not a single one of them good.
Nothing, not a single damn thing, good will come from attacking Iran. It will make everything worse, and it will be worse than most Americans can imagine. And to do it on the word of the current American government, against the views of virtually everyone else you can name, including the American intelligence community? Absurd.
Insane. There is no other word to describe it.
(As its beside the point, I'm not going to get too much into the Korean situation, but I will note several assertions there were similarly off-base. The South Koreans are in poor shape to defend themselves without American support, and even if they did, China would simply intervene again - and probably put a more tractable leader in Korea while they were at it.)
For starters, it is far from certain that Iran would use nukes on Israel. Israel is a useful propoganda tool to Iran's mullahs and little more. Iranians are NOT Arabs. They do not give a crap about the plight of the Palestinians (even compared to the actual Arabs, whose actual caring for them is very suspect). Yes, they care about the Holy Land, but... it's not there. It's not next to them.
Quite frankly, Iran is concerned primarily with its preservation of itself, especially as the foremost (and for a long time only) Shi'a regime. In that sense, nukes are an obvious goal towards self-preservation. The world isn't blind. They can see the difference between North Korea and Iraq just fine, and while there's many other reasons besides the fact North Korea could actually defend itself, that is one that weighs heavily in the minds of countries, especially Islamic countries, who look askance at the specter of a country that has invaded a terrifying number of Islamic nations in the last twenty-five years, now led by a president on a self-described "crusade".
Iran is not a backwards desert. It's a very progressive and advanced country for the region. They have quite genially agreed to a cease-fire when at war before. The people of Iran are, in large part, educated, well-spoken, well-dressed. They have an enormous amount of pride in their ancient, sophisticated culture and the Persian language, which predates Christianity, let alone Islam. They listen to rock music and Freddie Mercury is so revered that the government officially licenses his albums. They are not desperate, starving people.
Here's the thing that the world shows over and over and over and over again. Happy, well-fed people don't want to die for a cause. The fact that in the US, the majority of grunt soldiers are poor people is neither hidden nor considered unusual. Your President, a rich boy from Connecticut, never saw a moment of action; nor did the vice president, nor the president that preceded him.
Iranians are not stupid. They are not ignorant. They are people. They know perfectly well that Israel has its own nuclear weapons. You ASSUME the moment they get them they'll attack Israel. Not threaten, not use as leverage in bargaining, but attack. And for what? To prove a point? To get themselves annihilated just so they can take out Israel for the benefit of a bunch of Arabs? Pfah.
Perhaps you will shoot back with "religious fanatics". Pfah, again. Religious fanatics will die for a cause if they have to, yes. How the Iranians hurled the US-equipped Iraqi army back across their borders is an important lesson. But that was when their backs were against the wall. Iran didn't occupy Iraq, either. They agreed to a cease-fire. Or look at the Iranian hostage crisis, where the Ayatollah happily negotiated with Ronald Reagan for the release of the hostages during the election campaign of 1980, then did so, having already won the propoganda victory. Assuming these people are blind or stupid is, in and of itself, blind and stupid.
I'll say it flat out: Iran will not attack Israel unless it is forced to do so. They want nuclear weapons, yes. They will use them to increase their power in the world, yes. They hate Israel, yes. But they want to survive, they want IRAN to survive, far more than they hate Israel. That's why there's not a war going on right now - because Iran couldn't win it, and they know it. They can't win a nuclear exchange, either, and they know it. Happy, educated, well-fed people don't want to die to prove a point. And they won't.
But back them up against the wall with yet another insane, unprovoked, preemptive attack, and they will hit you back with a ferocity that will amaze you just like it amazed the Iraqis. To say nothing of the incredible amount of consequences that will accrue from such an attack. To say nothing of the profound implications of using nuclear weapons in an unprovoked attack against a weaker nation. To say nothing of the fact that preemptively declaring war against a weaker nation over something they MIGHT do is evil, is wrong, is insane, is stupid, is any number of other things and not a single one of them good.
Nothing, not a single damn thing, good will come from attacking Iran. It will make everything worse, and it will be worse than most Americans can imagine. And to do it on the word of the current American government, against the views of virtually everyone else you can name, including the American intelligence community? Absurd.
Insane. There is no other word to describe it.
(As its beside the point, I'm not going to get too much into the Korean situation, but I will note several assertions there were similarly off-base. The South Koreans are in poor shape to defend themselves without American support, and even if they did, China would simply intervene again - and probably put a more tractable leader in Korea while they were at it.)