Does Iran have a right to acquire nuclear weapons?

[BurtWorm]

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

1. I Put Absolutely Not. But I Do Think They Have Every Right To Develop It

for peaceful purposes.

On Edit: After reading through the choices again I would've rather voted for option 3.

[greyl]

2. I chose the third one. nt

[BurtWorm]

3. Another possibility is occurring to me.

I think they may not have the right, but I think no country that has them has the right to tell them not to acquire them.

[greyl]

4. Yes, that too. :) nt

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

12. I Disagree. I Think Anyone Can Tell Them That. But I Think The Countries

that have them don't have a right to them either and should get the fuck rid of em. I've always been a believer that wise suggestions coming from a hypocrite are still wise suggestions. They are merely coming from a fool.

[BurtWorm]

13. An armed and dangerous fool.

You have to take that into consideration.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

14. Tis True.

[tuvor]

5. As long as they don't acquire more than the USA already has.

[radwriter0555]

6. WHAT RIGHT does the US have to enforce ANY international agreement

without the endorsement of all the other parties involved in the treaty?

Since when is the US to take the place of the UN or NATO?

[MadHound]

7. First off, let's not buy the spin that Iran is trying to develop nukes

If you do, then you are simply allowing Bushco to dictate the discussion and set the stage. Iran has stated publicly that they have no desire to develop a nuclear weapon, and that the only reason they are enriching uranium is for a nuclear power plant. Every single scrap of evidence backs up this assertion, keep this in mind.

That stated, quite frankly any sovereign nation has the right to develop a nuclear weapon. In fact, I wouldn't blame Iran in the least for developing a nuclear weapon. After all, witness N. Korea. After talking up the N. Korean threat, Bushco pretty much shut their mouth and backed far away from N. Korea once it came out that they had a few spanking new nukes in their back pocket. Given the rhetoric of the White House, the saber rattling, the fact that Iran is sitting on all that oil, and having seen what happened to Iraq, yeah, I'd be building a nuke too.

[tech3149]

8. Can you point to any public statement from Iran

that they intend to pursue weapons development? Any statement I've seen has been about nuclear power not weapons. It might be that they want nuclear power because they understand the limited resource of oil must be replaced with something. I've read statements in the last two months saying they would welcome IAEA monitoring to allow continued developement of the technology. Here's a good review of the situation. http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0509/p01s04-wome.html

Backgroung from the IAEA site http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/PressReleases/2006/prn200602.html

[BurtWorm]

10. My question doesn't depend on a public policy of Iran's.

It's a general, philosophical question. Do they have a right to nuclear weapons?

A lot of American hysteria against Iran is premised on the presumed awfulness of Iran's ever acquiring nukes. The Bushists are counting on this received wisdom to hold in this country and in Europe. I'm just asking, would it be so terrible if Iran was trying to acquire nuclear weapons.

In my opinion, it wouldn't be awful enough to justify trying to stop them militarily.

[LaPera]

9. Israel has nukes...why shouldn't others be allowed to defend themselves?

What possible racist reason, could one give against it, because they are brown-skinned and have a different religion other than the Jews & Christians?

I thought America was suppose to be all about freedom of religion and freedom to believe in any political ideology one choses?

[NNN0LHI]

11. Five years ago I would have said no

Two invaded countries later looking for Osama and WMDs I now would say the government of any country that does not do everything in their power to acquire a deterrent against a possible future US invasion and occupation is insane.

Don

[Bluerthanblue]

15. I voted yes, but my honest belief is

that NO 'country' should be allowed to possess the power to destroy all life on earth-

That being said, who the hell are 'we' to say "you can't have that kind of thing" while we have more of it than anyone else, and are proving to ourselves and the world, that we are every bit as un-stable and self centered as any 'person'.???

[tatertop]

16. Yes. And they better hurry.

[SPKrazy]

17. Yes?

oh yeah, give a regime that wants to wipe Israel off the map, and hates the USA nukes

that is really smart

I'm amazed sometimes at the veracity with which people will strive to take the diametrical opposite of *

I don't want war with Iran, at the same time I'm not in favor of them having nukes

Sanctions, global pressure, and the UN should be enough to stop them for the time being.

[BurtWorm]

18. Do you think that just because they have them they'd use them?

What makes you think so?

[SPKrazy]

23. I'd Just As Soon Not Find Out

We should be working to eliminate nukes from the world

[BurtWorm]

27. How do you propose to do that, now that Pandora's box is open?

Hey! How about a strategic defense initiative!

:think:

[SPKrazy]

28. How About UN Sanctions

How about using force if necessary to impose an embargo if they won't disarm?

[BurtWorm]

29. They aren't armed with nukes at the moment.

Should the world aim sanctions at any country with nukes, like the US, India, Israel or China? And how can a nuclearly armed giant seriously tell any unarmed pipsqueak to disarm or else?

[deaniac21]

19. The world will be a better place when Iran can't be bullied

by the US and Israel. Sine they have a theocracy they will probably be much more responsible with nuclear weapons.

[Bake]

20. No one KNOWS if they would use them

But frankly, there are more than enough -- too many -- nukes in the world already. Sooner or later, someone WILL use them. Hell, it might be the USA that uses them (particularly since we're the only nation that has ever used them so far). I will add that we have managed to restrain ourselves from using them since WWII.

No one should use them, under any circumstances.

Do I want to take the risk that Iran, or North Korea, or whoever else, may use nukes in the future? Hell no.

I don't have a problem with a nation developing nuclear power for energy-generation purposes. But at the first sign of weaponization, somebody has to stop it. And I don't know how you do that.

But I know I don't trust a whole lot of people with nukes, because, as the saying goes, absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Bake

[BurtWorm]

21. The US is the only country besides Pakistan and India

that has discussed using them in war since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Using them in Iran, actually.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

22. The entire middle-east should be a nuclear free zone.

As was proposed by Egypt and..IRAN in a 1974 UN General Assembly Resolution.

Israel is not a signatory of the NPT.

[lastliberalintexas]

24. How about the entire world?

:)

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

26. The sooner the better.

[LSK]

25. Iran having nukes is a phoney issue

The real issue is oil. Just like Iraq. They want to sell their oil in something other than dollars.

[Jim Warren]

30. No country that has nukes

has the right to tell another country they can't have them.

If the US backs Israel and their right to have nukes, how can the US deny that right to another country in the region?

[Recursion]

I said "As an NPT signatory, no", BUT...

...under that same protocol they do have a right to enrich Uranium like they are doing.

[MsTryska]

31. Hmm..torn...as signatories to the NPT, no...but as a sovereign

nation - they can do what they damn well please.