Who knows. But here is some exceptionally clear speaking for a diplomat courtesy of the ambassador of the United Arab Emirates:
“If you are asking me, ‘Am I willing to live with that versus living with a nuclear Iran?,’ my answer is still the same: ‘We cannot live with a nuclear Iran.’ I am willing to absorb what takes place at the expense of the security of the U.A.E.”
This statement, though, is hard to believe given that there are strong reasons for states in the region to balance rather than bandwagon with Iran if the U.S. reduces its commitment to the region, let alone merely chooses not to confront Iran:
“There are many countries in the region that if they lack assurance that the U.S. is willing to confront Iran, they will start running for cover with Iran,” he said. “Small, rich, vulnerable countries do not want to stick their finger in the big boy’s eye if they do not have the backing of the United States.”
In my view, the United States can live with a nuclear Iran, just as it currently lives with a nuclear Pakistan, a nuclear China, a nuclear Soviet Union Russia, and so on. One thing it will mean is that the U.S. will not be able to do to Iran what it did to Saddam – and that in my book isn’t such a bad thing for our interests!
Update: As I expected, the UAE is walking back the ambassador’s statements.
But why wait for them to get their act together? We got lots of extra nukes. Let’s just send a few dozen to Iran right away. Of course we would want to send some to he Saudis and the UAE and everyone else.
And while we are at it, we can give some more to Pakistan and India. Then we move on to North Korea; they don’t really have enough yet. Of course we want to send some to Aghanistan and all the other Stans. And then, if we really want to get serious, let’s arm all those pesky African nations that can’t even rub two matchsticks together. If we have any left over, Chavez would be happy to get a few, and we’d want to arm the rest of Latin America as well.
And after we have given away our relative power to all the rogue nations, we will have made it impossible for the US to intervene militarily anywhere in the world. The isolationists will be so pleased. They will finally be secure within their own borders, unable to act. We can scale back our military and put all the money into Medicare.
And we will live happily ever after.
[...] A writer on the Pileus blog wrote today: In my view, the United States can live with a nuclear Iran, just as it currently lives with a nuclear Pakistan, a nuclear China, a nuclear Soviet Union Russia, and so on. [...]
Not attacking Iran -The Reasons