Liberal College Kid

The United States has nuclear weapons.  Well, Bush says we have “nu-cue-lar” weapons, but regardless we have a bunch of bombs that could blow the world up several times over.  The United States is still the only country to ever use atomic weapons on an enemy.  Of course, we’re not the only country with nuclear technology any more.  Many other countries, from Israel to Pakistan to the Ukraine have nuclear weapons.  The latest controversy in the matter is what to do about Iran.

To summarize a great deal, the issue boils down to this: Iran wants to use nuclear energy to modernize their country.  They maintain that they are not interested in nuclear weapons.  However, if they were to come into position of a nuclear weapon they’ve made it clear they think it’d be a good idea to nuke Israel.  It’s not hard to see why this freaks a lot of people out.

Interestingly enough, though, it’s not just the West that’s worried about Iran.  According to a Times article today, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, and Turkey are all looking into nuclear technology to keep up with Iran.  What does this mean?

To put it simply, the Middle East is quickly approaching the tipping point that will result in a war between Shi’a (Shiite is not PC, tell a friend) and Sunni Islam.  We are already witnessing this struggle in Iraq and the stage is set for it to spill over into a wider regional conflict.  Of course, it is the incompetent Decider’s fault that this whole mess got started. Saudi Arabia has made it clear that they will not stand for a Shi’a government in Iraq and will take military action to prevent another Iran from emerging on the scene.  For now, we simply have to wait it out to see how the race for nuclear technology pans out in the Middle East.

But this brings up another, more philosophical issue.  What right does the United States have to disallow other countries to develop nuclear technology?  We have nuclear power plants, bombs, war heads, nuclear powered submarines… The list goes on.  How do we have the right to determine which countries are allowed to have the bomb?  The United States is losing its influence in the world, as well as its credibility.  This government has tortured, held prisoners with out charges, and spied on its own citizens.  We started an illegal war in a country that has never attacked us.

My greatest fear is that the next country to use a nuclear weapon will be the same that started the whole thing…  God bless America.