Facebook users have gone crazy over the foreign policy conflict between Iran and Israel over Iran’s continued desire to have nuclear weapons. The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu argued for a “clear red line” to be drawn by the international community to defeat Iran’s attempt to have a nuclear weapon. In his United Nation General Assembly address, Netanyahu argued that if Iran posses the nuclear weapon, then no one in the world would be safe. Netanyahu went further to argue that Iran was on the verge of having a substantial amount of uranium to build a weapon by the end of summer of 2013. The red line should be drawn to stop Iran from accumulating additional uranium that would make it easy for Iran to acquire the weapon. One Iran acquires the uranium, it would be impossible to put to halt their process of manufacturing a detonator that could be used to fire a weapon. Immediately after delivering the speech, Netanyahu’s comments generated a varying degree of comments from Facebook users with different opinions on the subject. While some users agreed with Netanyahu, others were critical of Israel’s attempts to bully Iran and to bring the United States into another war with yet another Middle Eastern country.
In the recent past, the Iranian nuclear program has been one of the most hotly debated issue in the middle east. The western powers, led by the United States believe that Tehran is building nuclear weapons while the Iranian leadership claim that their goal is developing a nuclear program that will enhance generation of electricity thus saving the oil supply in the country. They also posit that the nuclear reactors would be used for provision of cancer treatments. In the summer of 2012, international nuclear inspectors produced a report that detailed that Iran had already acquired almost seventy five percent of the centrifuges that a country need to build a deep underground location for the generation of nuclear fuel. The International Atomic Energy Agency reported that Iran, in the summer of 2012, almost doubled the centrifuges in places such as the city of Qum but cleared other locations where the agency was allowed to observe. The report documents the occurrence of explosives that could hint at a possible production of a nuclear weapon.
A Facebook user by the name Matthew Bullock-6735529, argued that he is on the fold the policy “of letting Israel do it on their won.” Mathew went ahead to argue that the United States has been at war for over decade in Afghanistan and would not like to be engaged in another conflict with another country now. Mathew-Bullock premises that while the Iranian’s are a regional power, they cannot be matched with the military strengths of the United States let alone Israel. In an event of a war, the United States would win in less than a week, but would have to be in Iran for many years to rebuild the country and set up structures. This already happened in Iraq and would certainly be the case in Iran if the United States goes ahead and initiate a war. This is Israel’s War and they deserve to fight it on their own. Mathew Bullock reasons that Israel already have over 200 warheads, this is enough to take on Iran and guarantee them victory. I do not see any viable reasons why Israel is dragging the United States into this affair.
Another user by the name of Bahasha from Iran argues that if the Israel feels threatened by a nuclear owning Iran; they should attack Iran on their own. The United States should not be involved in the war. Bahasha reasons that Israel is the United States’ number one recipient of foreign aid and has been trained and militarized by the United States. There is no point that Israel is dragging the United States into another war. He goes further to say that China and Russia are the strongest powers from the region but they are not threatened the least by Iran, then it makes no sense by the United States are worried sick about Iran. Iran is Israel’s problem and they should deal with it on their own. Bahasha says that the collapse of the Soviet Union means that Israel as a strategic value to the United States has fallen and the advent of Middle Easten democracy would pose a danger towards the United States influence in the region. The Europeans are already benefiting because of their neutral stand on Is real, the United States have a lot to lose if they do not play cards well. With a bad economy in the United States, it makes sense for Israel to handle the issue the Obama way, approach dialogue instead of insinuating war and conflict.
A Facebook user by the name Ralph American, has a completely different take from the rest of the people who commented on the article.
Ralph American writes that the United States intelligence has enough information to prove that the Iranians are working on a nuclear weapon. Secondly, the Iranian regime under Mahmud Ahmadinejadhas continually reiterated that they do not like the Israeli and would not like wipe them off the face of the map. The IAEA, which is controlled by the United States, has stated that Iran is believed to be working on a nuclear weapon. The IAEA has observed Iranian nuclear facilities via satellite photos. In the recent years, Iran has recently installed many centers of centrifuges at the fordo facility. Without a doubt, Iran is on the verge of acquiring a nuclear weapon. Another fact is that the Iranians have consistently refused to be assessed by the international community on their nuclear programs. An argument laid out by the Iranian regime is that the uranium facilities are useful for nuclear reactors that can be used for energy, and this means that Iran is on the verge of acquiring the nuclear weapon and would use it on Israel. Netanyahu is writing that Iran should be stopped by a combined effort of the international community. It is paramount that the United States plays a critical role in this endeavor.
In the discussion on NBC’s Facebook page, users had varied opinions on Netanyahu’s comment on Israel. For the most part, the users agreed that Iranian acquisition of the nuclear weapon would jeopardize the security of the middle east particularly Israel. However, the disagreement on the debate was on the role that the United States would play in the issue. While most users feel that the United States ought to let the Iranians solve the issue on their own, others feel that the United States still has a central role to play when it comes to the security of Israel. The fierce debate premises on the anti war sentiments that have been created by the long and tedious war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
I found the views rather objective and to the point. However, I must admit that the extreme stands and the length of the comments perplexed me. My view is that people commenting on this topic on Facebook already have formed opinions. This is the reason they would go at great lengths to express their views. Still, this was a good learning spot for many people who have no clue on what is going on. The New Internationalist reckons that the debate on technology is much more compelling and complex than meets the eye. It is possible that technology can provide solutions to foreseeable threats; however, the degree of the solutions varies on the cultures and structures of different societies. For example, in the western world, Twitter is used for small talks about life such as dinner, personal events, and jokes, In North Africa, the same tool is used to incite the people against oppression and enact regime change.
References
New Internationalitst World Development Book Case Study: The role of Social Network in the Arab Spring, http://www.newint.org/books/reference/world-development/case-studies/social-networking-in-the-arab-spring/ Published, 2012, retrieved Sept 23, 2012,
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/28/world/middleeast/netanyahu-warns-that-iran-bombmaking-ability-is-nearer.html?ref=nuclearprogram&_r=0 Published April 4th, 2012, Retrieved by September 23rd, 2012
NBC World News, ( Septermber 23, 2012). Isreal’s Netanyahu: Draw Clear red line to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons.http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/27/14126478-israels-netanyahu-draw-clear-red-line-to-stop-iran-from-getting-nuclear-weapons#comments
The New York Times (September, 23, 2012) Iran's Nuclear Program (Nuclear Talks, 2012)
