Do you agree that with the mentally ill criminal as our President, the Iranians need a nuclear weapon to stay safe?

[Anonymous]

I mean, I think a nuclear weapon in the hands of a potential enemy might be the only thing that would keep the Iranians safe from the depredations of a lunatic we have as a president.

[Effably]

I would prefer less nuclear weapons in the world. But if we speak from each country's view? Having them is good.

Ukraine is an excellent example. They had a nuclear program and nukes. In fact, Ukraine had the third most nukes in the world.

However. They got solemn oaths from Russia that it would never attack. They got solemn oaths from USA that if anyone, especially Russia, ever did attack then if Ukraine gave up their nuclear weapons they would be included in USA's program instead and treated as though they were part of the US.

They trusted the promise of the then largest two superpowers and everyone was pretty sick or nukes.

Had they not trusted Russia and USA, they would not have been in a war or any real large scale trouble since. But Russia and USA both broke their oath and here they are.

So sure. Yes. Regardless of sitting president it keeps a country safer. At the cost of making the world less safe.

[Asker]

The world is only less safe if somebody is stupid enough to use one of these things. So far, nobody has been stupid enough to do that, but there have been plenty of people stupid enough to start wars with each other without using nukes. However, nobody so far has started a war with a country that actually has nukes.

[Effably]

Nobody had been stupid enough to elect a 30 plus time convicted criminal who has self-admitted to attempted rape, has sold out the country's agents and almost certainly raped little kids. Yet here we are. Putting stock in future people not being stupid is not a good idea. The answer to your question is yes. But from any other country's view? A sharp no.

[Asker]

Point taken

[Anonymous]

Yup. I think every nation that can build or acquire them should do so immediately as the U. S. is a rogue state now.

[MrChinaski]

The war has resolved some ambiguities:

Yes, Iran can control the Strait of Hormuz by force.

No, the US can't stop its missile program and can't stop its nuclear program.

The Iranian regime is not going to be toppled by internal unrest.

It has raised new ones.

Is the US Military still dominant in the drone era, or is it essentially built to fight a war c. 2000?

It's been a great success for Trump and his mates by creating market volatility through which they can use inside information to make hundreds of millions of dollars.

So, swings and roundabouts, really...

[Asker]

The US military has thus far not built a significant number of drones and may not for some time. I think this is because defense contractors are not tooled and have not planned adequately for this. They have far too much invested in making extremely expensive hardware. If anything, I think that they may invest in making anti-drone defense systems since so many other countries has successfully used drones in conflicts.

[strateguy632]

the only reason iran has not used an atom bomb is because they don't have it. we see how iran hurt all their neighbors. they can't be trusted with big bombs.

[SeekerOfTruth007]

You need to be banned. Seriously.

If I were president, I'd be bombing Iran's oil fields and factories. Let's put real pressure on them and China, instead of the Baby Stuff the Pentagon keeps drawing up.

Geneva convention is for idiots to follow.

[Asker]

I think I was suggesting that someone should be banned simply because you disagree with them is kind of extreme, don't you?

[SeekerOfTruth007]

Making criminal accusations of someone publicly requires some sort of EVIDENCE, which you don't have.

[Asker]

Trump has been convicted based on evidence of criminal behavior. He just hasn't been punished for it yet.

[strateguy632]

nope. he was not punished because he was innocent.

[SeekerOfTruth007]

He has never been convicted of anything criminal, and the civil matter with E Jean Carrol is BS. It's going to be overturned in a higher court soon.

Freedom of speech means you can say any damned thing you want to say, except you can't falsely accuse someone else of a crime... which you just did, by the way.

[Asker]

@strateguy632 I'm sorry, but that's incorrect. He was not punished as yet because he's the President of the United States, and someone decided it would be unseemly to subject a president to criminal punishment. I agree with that. However, when he's done with his term, he at least is going to be eligible for punishment once again. Sure as hell was not punished because he was innocent.

[Asker]

Donald Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts in New York state court. All of the convictions were for Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree. These charges stemmed from a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election by concealing "hush money" payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Specifically, the 34 counts involved fraudulent documentation (such as false invoices, checks, and ledger entries) used to disguise the reimbursement of the payments to his former attorney, Michael Cohen. You can review the full breakdown of the charges and trial details reported by NPR or the official press release from the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.

[Asker]

Let's try to keep this discussion based in reality, okay? Saying things like "he's not been convicted of anything" or "that he's not been punished because he's innocent" is just contrary to reality.

[genericname85]

I believe you can't become a president if you're not mentally ill. No mentally healthy human would go through that effort.