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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsJuan Cole: Top 5 Disasters if GOP Senate Derails Iran Talks
http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/26992-top-5-disasters-if-gop-senate-derails-iran-talksIf the GOP succeeds, it will make a US-Iran War much more likely. The two countries are already on a war footing, and things could easily spiral out of control.
Here are some likely consequences:
--Iran would have no reason to be transparent about its civilian nuclear enrichment program, since it will remain under extremely onerous sanctions and would have no further hope of escaping them.
--The US already has what amounts to a financial blockade on Iranian petroleum sales. Blockades frequently raise tensions so much that they make war more likely. If the blockade is worsened by Congress, the likelihood of an Iranian-US clash would much increase.
--US troops advising the Iraqi military are embedded with Shiite troops, many of them ex-militiamen with close relations with Iran. Iran could easily arrange for Iraqi enlisted men to frag American troops, attacking them in a surprise fashion.
--Iran will be driven further into the arms of Russia and China, to both of which it is a useful chip to play.
--President Hassan Rouhani, a moderate, would be drastically weakened if his attempts to negotiate with the US crash and burn. Anti-American hard liners might well take over, with all the dangers that implies.
Odin2005
(53,521 posts)Xolodno
(6,401 posts)....Son's, daughters, husbands and wives....come home in body bags.
....tax money gets moved to more military...helping the less fortunate, gets ignored.
....more money to military...at the expense helping the economy at home.
....given its Iran...you can bet they will get a lot of help from Russia and China....which means taking out Iran's nuclear abilities will fail.
....create even more radical elements in the mid-east...perhaps even uniting Shiites and Sunni's against a common cause.
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)McGrumpy and his Boy Pal Little Lindsey next year. And you know damn well the Military-Industrial-Complex will be cashing in their campaign chips. Got a hunch there are a ton of nervous folks in D.C. on this issue. Noticed BiBi has amped up his Anti-Iran rhetoric. Interesting.
Recursion
(56,582 posts)I'm afraid Cole is exactly right; if anything he's not alarmist enough here.
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)So what's the problem?