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Saturday, February 14, 2015

Sen. Ted Cruz: If Iran acquires the nuclear weapon, the odds are unacceptably high they would use that weapon


22:37  into the video  

And here the dangers are qualitatively greater. With Iran, you have a very different situation from  North  Korea. North Korea, Kim Jong-Il , Kim Jong-Un, they are radical, they are extreme, they are unpredictable, and yet both father and son fundamentally  are megalomaniacal narcissists.  Which means there’s some degree of rational deterrence that’s possible.  Both father and son understood that if they ever actually use their nuclear weapon – that instant their regime would end.   What makes Iran qualitatively more dangerous is its leadership, Khamenei and the mullahs are radical religious zealots who embrace death and suicide, which means ordinary cost benefit analysis doesn’t work the same way.  

That’s why understanding what it is we are fighting is so important.  If you assume these are rational actors then the Obama administration’s policy, which I believe is facilitating Iran acquiring nuclear weapons capability, I wouldn't even go so far as to say makes more sense, a little sense, at least if you misunderstand who you are dealing with - there is a possibility of deterrence, but when you understand religious extremism , it changes the balance.  In my view if Iran acquires the nuclear weapon, the odds are unacceptably high they would use that weapon in the skies of New York or Los Angeles or Tel Aviv.