[morphball]

Kaj

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So if we attack Iran from Qatar, we won't offend Iraqi shiites?

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I would probably say when we attack. How often do two countries get engaged in what Iran, Israel and the USA are in currently and not get war? I think the simple fact is that a nuclear Iran is unacceptable, and it doesn't matter which party is in office. Ten of thousands of people will most likely die before Iran is allowed to go nuclear.

I am also sceptical that US cares about shiite support. The US cares about 1) protecting its interests in the Middle East; and 2) but only after 1 is obtained, getting some sort of stability in Iraq.

At the moment, Iranian shiites are working with Iraqi shiites and endangering both goals, so it seems rather unlikely the US will be overly worred about pissing off the Iraqi shiites when the time comes. The US is playing the democracy game now, but they have been building an Iraqi police force and army too. If we can't get a democracy going, we'll just return to our former standard of installing ruthless dictators.