Is Iran a Greater Threat Than ISIS?

Beaudreaux · Sep 29, 2014

serato said:
Has Iran even crossed a border since the 1800's?

Yes, and I have one of their uniform shirts in my closet that I traded one of their soldiers for a beer - and that was in Iraq, deep inside Iraq, after we captured them and we were waiting on their ride to the rear area.

So, again, yes. Plus, they fund, train and equip Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Front and many others. They bring them to Iran, train them, equip them and then send them back. These groups are proxies for Iran.

ecofarm · Sep 29, 2014

German guy said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but my impression is Hamas and Hezbollah are more or less limited to attacks on Israel and don't have a world-wide agenda.

Iran has the regional/world agenda. Hamas and Hez are puppets of Iran. Does ISIS have puppets in other countries and Africa? I don't think so. I don't think ISIS has any ability to project power whatsoever; Iran does.

As far as I can tell, the main difference between the threat ISIS is posing and the one posed by Iran is that Iran is not likely going to resort to the same kind of guerilla/terrorist/asymmetric warfare as the ISIS fanatics. Iran is not likely going to commit terrorist attacks in Western countries, because if such attacks can be traced back to them, retaliation would cost them much more than they benefit, and if it cannot be traced back to them, there is not much sense in terrorism. The threat by Iran is that if they successfully develop nukes, they can shift the balance of power in the ME and severely damage Western interests there.

Iran does these things through the support of terrorist groups. Why do it themselves when they can fund others to commit terrorist acts and claim innocence.

ISIS, on the other side, is a bunch of fanatized radicals who don't really have to care for a state and are not required on the approval of the people they are "governing", and they do have a fanatic global agenda. Their warfare is based on asymmetric tactics and terrorism, and there already is a competition among them about who's the first to commit the next successful big terror attack against the West.

Their like Iran's pawns, not like Iran.

apdst · Sep 29, 2014

All Muslim countries are a threat. It's a matter of opinion which is the more immediate threat.

Gathomas88 · Sep 29, 2014

TheDemSocialist said:
Recently Netanuahu stated at the UN General Assembly that Iran is a greater threat than ISIS. Do you agree with this statement?
Video can be found here: [h=1]Netanyahu: Iran poses greater threat than Islamic State[/h]

On a long term strategic basis? Absolutely.

The Iranian Republic is an established player with it's eyes set on becoming the hegemonic regional power of the Middle East. What's more, they have the position, clout, connections, and raw power to conceivably make it happen.

While, granted, they are no where near as monstrous as ISIS happens to be in terms of social policy, they are still almost diametrically opposed to the Western World on an ideological basis. They have also made a point of exporting and supporting their own brand of radicalized Shia Islam both in the Middle East and beyond for decades now.

Every move Iran makes forward, comes at the expense of Israel, the Western World, and any non-Shia nation unfortunate enough to be caught in their path for that exact reason.

serato · Sep 29, 2014

Beaudreaux said:
Yes, and I have one of their uniform shirts in my closet that I traded one of their soldiers for a beer - and that was in Iraq, deep inside Iraq, after we captured them and we were waiting on their ride to the rear area.

So, again, yes. Plus, they fund, train and equip Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Front and many others. They bring them to Iran, train them, equip them and then send them back. These groups are proxies for Iran.

How many Iranian terrorist on the 911 planes? How many Saudis?

apdst · Sep 29, 2014

German guy said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but my impression is Hamas and Hezbollah are more or less limited to attacks on Israel and don't have a world-wide agenda.

As far as I can tell, the main difference between the threat ISIS is posing and the one posed by Iran is that Iran is not likely going to resort to the same kind of guerilla/terrorist/asymmetric warfare as the ISIS fanatics. Iran is not likely going to commit terrorist attacks in Western countries, because if such attacks can be traced back to them, retaliation would cost them much more than they benefit, and if it cannot be traced back to them, there is not much sense in terrorism. The threat by Iran is that if they successfully develop nukes, they can shift the balance of power in the ME and severely damage Western interests there.

ISIS, on the other side, is a bunch of fanatized radicals who don't really have to care for a state and are not required on the approval of the people they are "governing", and they do have a fanatic global agenda. Their warfare is based on asymmetric tactics and terrorism, and there already is a competition among them about who's the first to commit the next successful big terror attack against the West.

You're corrected...

Khobar Towers bombing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

serato · Sep 29, 2014

apdst said:
All Muslim countries are a threat. It's a matter of opinion which is the more immediate threat.

Stupidity is also a threat to humanity

apdst · Sep 29, 2014

serato said:
Stupidity is also a threat to humanity

Liberals prove that daily.

TheDemSocialist · Sep 29, 2014

apdst said:
All Muslim countries are a threat. It's a matter of opinion which is the more immediate threat.

You only wish the world was in black and white, dont cha?

Montecresto · Sep 29, 2014

shrubnose said:
from what i've read i tend to agree, but there's nothing to stop the saudis from funding any group that they want to fund. They are going to do whatever they want to do, they won't be asking for permission.

Saudi Arabia's sectarian policies behind resurgence of al Qaida in Iraq.

http://www.diplomaticourier.com/new...olicies-behind-resurgence-of-al-qaida-in-iraq

joG · Sep 29, 2014

TheDemSocialist said:
Recently Netanuahu stated at the UN General Assembly that Iran is a greater threat than ISIS. Do you agree with this statement?
Video can be found here: [h=1]Netanyahu: Iran poses greater threat than Islamic State[/h]

Though the jury is still out on that, I tend to believe that proliferation is more dangerous as the probability of nuclear war grows enormously with it. That does not mean that IS does not pose a threat to the stability of the whole region. But even the proliferation increases the probability that criminal groups like that one get a hold on nuclear weapons.

apdst · Sep 29, 2014

TheDemSocialist said:
You only wish the world was in black and white, dont cha?

Out of 2 billion people, no one can eradicate the Islamofacists? What's that tell you? It tells me that a very large majority of those 2 billion people sympathize with the Islamofacists.

US Conservative · Sep 29, 2014

Short term no, long term yes.

apdst · Sep 29, 2014

Montecresto said:
Saudi Arabia's sectarian policies behind resurgence of al Qaida in Iraq.

Saudi Arabia

Link?

shrubnose · Sep 29, 2014

ecofarm said:
Hamas and Hez are not a threat now?

Click to expand...

They're a threat to Israel, not to the USA.

joG · Sep 29, 2014

EnigmaO01 said:
And you have links are or we supposed to believe you on face value?

If you aren't aware of the fact, I don't think any number of links will change your view.

Montecresto · Sep 29, 2014

apdst said:
Link?

wtf, it's in the post you quoted.

Montecresto · Sep 29, 2014

TheDemSocialist said:
Recently Netanuahu stated at the UN General Assembly that Iran is a greater threat than ISIS. Do you agree with this statement?
Video can be found here: [h=1]Netanyahu: Iran poses greater threat than Islamic State[/h]

The 9/11 Commission report identified Saudi Arabia as the main source of al-Qa’ida financing. But six years after the attack – at the height of US-al-Qa’ida military conflict in Iraq in 2007 – Stuart Levey, the Under-Secretary of the US Treasury in charge of monitoring and impeding terror financing, told ABC News that, when it came to al-Qa’ida, “if I could somehow snap my fingers and cut off the funding from one country, it would be Saudi Arabia.” He added that not one person identified by the US or the UN as funding terrorism had been prosecuted by the Saudis.

Al-Qa

joG · Sep 29, 2014

DaveFagan said:
I think both Saudi Arabia and Israel are larger threats than Iran, by far. I do not see Iran as a threat.

Iran is not the threat. Proliferation is. The financing of terrorism they do is nasty stuff but not like kicking off a race of nuclear armament between in stable fiefdoms.

EMNofSeattle · Sep 29, 2014

apdst said:
All Muslim countries are a threat. It's a matter of opinion which is the more immediate threat.

Not really, Kurdistan is friendly to us, so is Turkey, emirates is rather progressive.

shrubnose · Sep 29, 2014

apdst said:
All Muslim countries are a threat.

Click to expand...

It's a matter of opinion which is the more immediate threat.

That statement is bigoted and wrong.

All countries with nuclear weapons are a threat to the USA. Some are a bigger threat than others.

EnigmaO01 · Sep 30, 2014

ecofarm said:
I don't care if you, personally, do not know these things.

So you don't have squat. Got it.

EnigmaO01 · Sep 30, 2014

ecofarm said:
Saudi does not fund AlQ and your source does not appear to actually be wikipedia. The source conflates private donations with state funds.

At least he has a source. Your contention is apparently an opinion as you won't provide a link.

EnigmaO01 · Sep 30, 2014

Beaudreaux said:
What he said above... so, hell yes. Bibi is correct.

Another apparent opinion with nothing to back it up.

EnigmaO01 · Sep 30, 2014

Mycroft said:
Bibi didn't tell us anything we didn't already know. Heck, Bush told us about Iran over 13 years ago.

However, BECAUSE it was Bush saying it, nobody believed it. Bush was right about a lot of things...even Obama agrees with him. That just means there are a lot of dumbass people out there who don't have a clue.

Speak for yourself.

Is Iran a Greater Threat Than ISIS?