1		3	Iran, nuclear. Israel

With world leaders now in Copenhagen tackling the challenge of getting in a photograph with Barack Obama, the world faces the possibility of imminent war, untold human casualties, massive disruption to energy supplies and subsequent economic collapse.

Of course none of this has anything to do with all that anthropogenic global warming bullshit. Jeez, if global warming worries you so much, then move to Hobart, or buy an air conditioner.

The latest news seems to confirm that Iran is making nuclear weapons.

It may be that Iran plans to use nukes as a bargaining chip they never give up, in the same time-honoured manner as used by the North Koreans. However there is no reason to believe that these freaks wouldn’t use it on Israel or, for that matter, put it in the hands of somebody who would take one on a ferry bound for Manhattan. The Iranian regime cannot be trusted to keep the technology from friends and neighbours.

The debate about whether or not there should be military intervention in Iran has sometimes been characterised as a debate between the “Right Nows” and the “Not Yets”. The Not Yet argument has always been that the time is not right for the military option against Iran and that other more peaceful options might work. 

The latest news suggests that peaceful options are not working - a discovery which will only come as a huge surprise to anyone who has never read a history book. If Iran gets the bomb then it will be too late to do anything without fear of retribution, and like the North Koreans, Iranians can look forward to years of tyrannical leadership underpinned by the certainty that the rest of the world will be too paralysed to act. There simply is no scenario where Iran gets nukes and large numbers of people don’t suffer.

Except this one:  Iran’s suspected nuclear facilities need to be taken out, and if a stray Sidewinder makes its way through the window of those who decided to create them it would be an unfortunate moment for diplomacy, but it would also be the far lesser of evils. The added bonus is that a well targeted strike might just trigger a revolution.

The only problem – who is going to step up and do it? The Nobel Peace Prize winner, perhaps? It’s unlikely. The world now looks to Israel to play bad cop.