Here we go again?

[Kathyan]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8276180.stm

Milliband refuses to rule out military action. Could this be another case of here we go again? Aren't our troops overstretched as it is? And can we afford it?

[Sandy-Wroe]

As our foreign policy seems to be predicated by what the USA does, we can't rule out military action against Iran until they do.

[caththecrazy]

The country is still trying to climb out of a recession so economically we can't afford more military action.

Sandly I think Sandy-Wroe is correct.

[buildersmate]

Try reading through the answer Milliband gives instead of jumping to conclusions.
Some dumb hack asks a dumb question about the Iran situation, then says 'will you rule out military action, Mr Milliband'. It's a trick hacks frequently play.
He can't rule it out and he can't rule it in - otherwise there will be hell to play later if the situation escalates and some action is required. Then he's accused of lying earlier.
He could say 'I refuse to answer that question' or 'Under the present situation it isn't a likely scenario'.

[petal54]

do our glorious leaders know what they're doing or what they are able to do.they say stuff then their whitehall @bosses'say no

[Prudentia]

millibrain is the ultimate wimp. of classiic proportions, a total tosser

[BertiWooster]

The ' dumb hack` was John Humphreys, who interviewed him on radio 2 , this morning

In his true bullying style , Humphrey was insisting that Milliband state that it was ' inconceivable' that military action would be taken against Iran ( because he Humphreys had got Jack Straw to use that word when he was home secretary)

I think Milliband was correct in his reply.
How can any Western power give that pronouncement , when dealing with a state , such as Iran - particularily in light of the discovery that they are building a new facility - which they have tried to conceal , until now .
If , as they state it's for power generation - why have they attempted to conceal it ?

[jno]

Berti is right. Any sensible politician keeps his options open. Otherwise it'd be like saying to Iran 'We think you're being naughty but of course we're not going to war over it'.

Given that we're in a recession and another war already, and have only just wound down Iraq operations, I don't think we will be going to war, especially since it would be essentially to protect Israel, not us. But no harm in leaving Iran wondering.

[buildersmate]

That's the problem with dumb news hacks - they want everything to be digital - either full on or full off. And they can't conceive of the idea of 'risk' or 'probability'.
Remember the way the 'super summer weather' was reported - it was full on, then bleating to blame the Met Office when it didn't happen full on.
Complete drongos.
Just ignore them.

[Prudentia]

for millibrand read miillibrain, enough said!

[rov1200]

Just put yourself in Amadinejad's shoes. With all the western countries threatening to attack him is he supposed to roll up and die. We rely on our nuclear weapons so that others don't attack us. Why should he feel so different?

If the strategy of having nuclear weapons is for your own safety maybe every country should have one. Now who is likely to use it first? Surely not the USA who have had experience already in this field.

[jno]

quite right, rov1200: Iran is within easy reach of Israel, Pakistan, India, China and Russia - all nuclear states. No wonder it's feeling nervous.

[buildersmate]

So whilst everone else has gone full circle with this, Iran is still coming up the learning curve and considers it a good idea to join the nuclear club. I can kind of understand that.
What's completely unacceptable is the deceit and lying over the purpose of this. Electricity so cheap (sic) it wouldn't need to be metered was a byproduct of nuclear weapon technology the way the UK explained it - not the fundamental justification for it.
When the oil reserves under Iran has 20 years to go, I can understand why such technology might be needed - but not now. The man is a liar, and the whole world needs to be reminded of it.

[shomer42]

I don't think we can afford it. With the current debt levels, about all we can afford is to send over one soldier armed with a spud gun, and no spuds. Who ever said we will follow the Americans is absolutely correct. They are significant trading partners, and have troops based here, so whatever they say we follow! Get used to it people, just be grateful the guy in the Whitehouse appears to have some common sense, he won't start a war with Iran, why? He wants to be re-elected, that's why!