Letters: October 12, 2009

'After Iran Gets the Bomb'
As long as Fareed Zakaria and others exhort us toward nuclear deterrence rather than prevention, the message to Iran and its supporters is our acquiescence.
Jack Eisenberg Baltimore, Maryland

The world may not end if Iran gets the bomb, but it would surely be changed irrevocably for the worse. It is the ultimate geopolitical nightmare: the world's worst weapon in the hands of a radical, revolutionary religious regime reaching for regional hegemony, possibly even apocalyptic glory. That must not be accepted either complacently or fatalistically.
Richard D. Wilkins Syracuse, New York

If Iran gets the nuclear bomb, it would be the end of Israel. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has declared that Israel should be destroyed. Iran is the largest Shia country, and Shias believe that the world will witness the emergence of another mahdi who will lead Islam to victory. Should Ahmadinejad believe that Allah has chosen him as the next mahdi, a bomb in Iran's hands could lead to World War III.
S. Raghunatha prabhu Alappuzha, India

The solution to the current "Iran problem" is to demand that Israel allow international inspections of its nuclear program, dismantle its nuclear bombs, and agree to a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East. If not, it is only a matter of time before some other country in the region wants to produce nuclear bombs, too.
Gregg Smith Keizer, Oregon

Fareed Zakaria downplays the dangers inherent in Iran's possession of a nuclear bomb. The recently reelected Iranian regime, despite certain internal divisions, cannot be trusted, least of all with restricting its nuclear capability to civilian use. A Persian glasnost and perestroika are highly unlikely, and for the foreseeable future internally triggered change remains a geopolitical dream.
Karl H. Pagac Villeneuve-Loubet, France

While Fareed Zakaria and Henry Kissinger ("Deployments and Diplomacy") anguish over the next steps with Iran, they miss one overriding fact: demography. Iran has seen average family size plummet from six to two in record time. By 2025 Iran will have 7 percent fewer men in the volatile 15-to-30 age group, and the country is likely to become increasingly stable and democratic. By 2025 Pakistan will have 68 percent more men 15 to 30, most likely poorly educated and largely unemployed. Stop obsessing over Iran and start worrying about Pakistan—which already has atomic weapons.
Malcolm Potts University of California Berkeley, California