What would Iran do if given free reign?

[ThomWV]

Let us say for a moment that Iran is indeed a very nasty State, controlled by madmen with bad intentions. Let us also say that at the moment the only great constraint on the nation of Iran and its unholy leadership is the threat of military intervention by the US and various economic restrictions coming from some number of other States.

Now let me ask this. What happens if all constraints on Iran drop. The US fleet sails home, we close our web of bases, fly all the planes back to Kansas. We advise the world's banking interests that we have no interest in their dealing with Iran and they are free to do as they please, and all of our friends around the world, and not just a few enemies too, oblige and Iran becomes as free as a bird within the world of nations, its actions challenged only by that "invisible hand" of economic push and pull to drive its international policy and actions.

So what happens then? Does anyone honestly think Iran's leadership would drive the tanks to Jerusalem? Does anyone think they would send their saboteurs to the US to destroy our decadent society?

My guess is they settle down to selling their oil on the world market and maybe try their hand at undercutting the Chinese in the labor cost for producing flip-flops or cheap bicycles and plastic toys for sale at Wal Mart's everywhere. Iran is no more threat to the world than we cause it to be.

[teddy51]

1. I ask, who has Iran attacked in the last 30 Years vs who has the US attacked? n/t

[Angry Dragon]

2. In 1953 we toppled a democratic Iran

put a dictator in power for 26 years so the British could get cheaper oil
I just can not imagine why Iran would ever be pissed at the US

edit: put in correct years

[bananas]

3. the reason iran wants nukes...

http://nuclearrisk.wordpress.com/2011/11/20/ex-spymaster-on-iranian-nuclear-threat/

[immoderate]

4. IIRC, Iranians have a higher SOL than Chinese, or they once did.

Iranians probably have to deal with the same patriotic bullshit that the US has dealt with. The perpetual enemy (in this case us) empowers their own MIC. Read your Orwell.

--imm

[KansDem]

5. Stop and think for a moment. Who's telling us Iran is a "threat?"

The same folks who told us Saddam had weapons of mass destruction.

That should be enough to put an end to this "argument."

[mmonk]

6. No matter how crazy our pols tell us they are,

they're not crazy enough to desire possibly getting erased from the face of the earth.

[bhikkhu]

7. They'd become more secular and more prosperous

and more of an influential regional power. Which would be all well and good for the people there, and probably even for most of the people in the region...except for Israel. Being such a minority, and with the history, Israel can't afford to have a prosperous neighbor, in a region that has "lost its fear", so to speak. Or at least that's the current thinking.