Hi Charles :)
I decided to stay out of political chatter from now, so will just
reply partially on this one and stop there.

>
>>I believe that if situation and climate in the region was different, then Iran could be made to abolish it's nuclear program though series of high summit open talks with them.
>>But that would include threating them with due respect, respect their borders and state, stop military provocations, offer economic incentives,
>>compromise solutions (Russia had some proposals) etc.
>>But if you believe they are madman (as this guy advocates), threat them as madman, insist on whole world threating them as madman - then not meny things are possible then eventual confrontation with devastationg consequences.

>
>You may be right - though I do think the current government in Iran is not going to be responsive to the kind of rational analysis that will be required. They really don't see a downside to having nuclear weapons and I do believe that is their firm intention. I do not believe for one minute they only want nuclear power for peaceful purposes - do you ?

No. Just like everybody else here I believe that their nuclear research would eventually lead to making weapons.

Problem is that situation in the region that has been created in past 7 years
greatly increases their desire to have them. Regime there fears that in a world after 9/11 they could easily become fair game for invasion/regime overturn from outside, (folowed by mass devastation and 10-30 years of total mess) so they think that having them would be deterent to such tendencies.

If there was not for a last two wars and all this mess, today their mullahs would have been probably dicussing problems of Iran's youth not conforming to core Islamic rules/values and nagging about 'western influences', rather then thinking desperately how to preserve their very state/regime there.

Next to it, you have Israel as regional power who do posses nuclear weapons
and whom they consider as a big threat, just as Israel considers them to be one.

So if you stop war (which is easier said then done) and calm down the
region, then they would not have any excuse to have them.
Nuclear weapons would be simply much lower on their priority list and there4 would be much easier to negotiate with them abandoning them all together.

This might not please Podhoretz&Co , but I am sure would make meny ordinary Americans very happy.

Peace :)