Yet again we hear the drumbeats of war:
Petraeus: Israel Might Attack Iran
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/01/petraeus-...
Netanyahu: If U.S. doesn’t stop Iran, Israel will
http://jta.org/news/article/2009/04/01/1004167/net...
Given the current economic crisis - you really have to wonder how Israel's actions would NOT be perceived as a threat to world security.
Even if we are to believe that Iran is on the verge of developing nuclear weapons - is it possible that a regional war in the Middle East will make the world a safer more secure place?
How would such a war affect billions of people around the world already living at, or below, subsistence levels? How many people would die as a result of economic calmity, famine and disease?
Surely the worst case scenario of a nuclear armed Iran actually USING these weapons would be an horrific and tragic event. Granted. But would they in fact use them? It can be assumed that Iran were in fact fanatically imprudent enough to launch a nuclear attack, they would cease to exist as a nation state in the blink of an eye - along with millions of the citizens and their culture.
But what is the prognosis for a prolonged regional conflict between Iran and Israel? Could it be contained?
Would the world become a safer place?
What would become of the fragile economic safety net that keeps what is left of this world's resources flowing (just barely) into the hands of billions of world citizens who live now in quiet desperation? How do we measure the human cost of widespread famine and disease and social uprising and global chaos in these terms? Can we really be asked to choose the lesser of these two evils?
And while Mr. Netanyahu warns of the dangers of a "messianic apocalypic cult" controlling nuclear weapons, the world is forced to wonder if he is simply trading in one apocalypse for another.