Clarification/Follow-up by tomder55 on 03/16/05 5:31 am:
powdepuff;
yes ,the issue is the creation of nuclear weapons . although Iran denies it ,the enrichment program they have ( a loophole in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty allows them to do it they claim) is designed to create nuclear weapons . they have already obtained missle technology to deliver them to most of Europe ,and of course Israel.

this alone is bad enough even though I think a deterence policy could prevent them from using them . however Iran obtaining them would almost force many other nations in the region to arm themselves with nukes.

That is still not the biggest concern . Colin Powell said it best during the run-up to Operation Iraqi Freedom . It is the nexus of rogue states with nuclear material and their ability to transfer it to terrorist groups that is the biggest concern. does anyone not believe that Hezzbolla ;an Iraninan client terrorist organization;would not use nuclear material in a terrorist attack on Israel if they had it ? suppose al Qaeda was able to smuggle nuclear weapons through our very porous borders to the estimated 50 +_ cells operating here ?

This is a big test for those who believe in multilateral solutions to world problems .The EU negotiations had better produce successful results .If negotiations do not work ,and military options are out of the question then we can kiss goodby forever the concept of controlling nuclear weapon proliferation . The stakes are that high .

Clarification/Follow-up by ETWolverine on 03/17/05 9:17 am:
PP

>>>Elliot, Can you tell me why no one wants Iran to have nuclear power? We have nuclear power plants all over the country, as a clean efficient power source, why do we (and others) want to limit who can use this kind of power? Is it because with nuclear power there is the ability for nuclear weapons?<<<

The answer is simple, PP. Iran is a terrorist state. Once they have nuclear power, they will have the ability to create the nuclear material needed to create nuclear weapons. Considering that Iran is one of the biggest suppliers of weapons to terrorist groups (they are the number 1 supplier of Hizbollah and supposedly have trasfered hundreds of thousands of tons of weapons to them), and has threatened the destruction of Israel and the USA on any number of occaisions, allowing them the technology necessary to make nukes would fall under the heading of A Really Bad Idea.

Elliot