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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (152237)	11/21/2004 4:52:05 PM
From: Michael Watkins	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

I'm not going to talk about state sponsored terrorism in this context, because an attack by Israel or the US on Iran over this issue is not state-sponsored terrorism, it is an act of war. Like I said, I am not talking about state sponsored terrorism. I am discussing the potential for war between two (or three) countries here. I was very specific there. While nothing can be looked at without all things in context, and I certainly agree that state sponsored terrorism is an issue all on its own, its impossible to clearly look at the big picture if your default position is to muddy the waters with other issues, all of the time. My interest is in exploring why Iran (or any country in the region) might feel threatened enough to develop nuclear weapons and whether that is a legitimate right of a state given the threats it may face. You can substitute Iran with Jordan or Israel or Libya or Greece or Serbia or Russia for the country and have the same discussion. - what are the domestic issues and politics - what are its near by external threats - what larger threats to the state exist - what is the role and stature of the state in the international community - what threats and actions has the state taken against others - if attacked, who will come to its aid - what other motivations exist for threat countries to attack the state etc.