"We are ready to attack Iran..."

Thanks for getting back on topic. My current view is that Iran does want to develop nuclear weapons. Why wouldn't it?

But a nuclear armed Iran doesn't necessarily present any more of a threat to Israel than already exists, imo. Iran would be absolutely stupid to do a preemptive nuclear strike on Israel. It would be national suicide. So, I assume, they just won't do that. But the possession of nuclear weapons, and ability to deliver them long range, would give them a bargaining chip that they apparently don't now have. Why this is important, I don't know. How Iran would use it if it had it, I don't know. I don't understand exactly what's at stake, what the game is. If anybody does, then your input would be most appreciated.

I'm no Middle East expert but what worries me is that once they get them, if ever, there's no going back. If they get them, 20, 30, 40 years down the road some lunatic might get into power there and start launching ...

... just as Saddam would have done had he had them.

The internal power struggles in the Mid-East strike me as more extreme and there's much greater potential for an unstable person to take power.

Or, suppose Iran had had them during the Iran/Iraq war. Might they have been tempted to take Baghdad out with a nuke at some point during that struggle when they were really hurting?

I think there's an excellent chance Saddam would have nuked Teheran if he could have during that war. He was not a very reasonable person.

Saddam was both reasonable and emotionally strong. That's part of why he became the boss. Imho, he wouldn't have used nuclear weapons had he had them.

I don't see how you figure he was reasonable. Strong, obviously, but reasonable?

Well, thankfully, it's off-topic. So, we needn't consider it.

You were just yankin' my chain.

...

Saddam was both reasonable and emotionally strong...

Judaism is a theistic religion. Jewishness is associated with that religion. It isn't a race.

One might disagree with the establishment of the Jewish state of Israel … without being in any way a racist.

You're confounding race with nationality.

And I'm not criticizing the population of Israel, I'm just criticizing their government actions and political ideology behind it (zionism).