# Nations asking for it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 12, 2006, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nations-asking-for-it/344107 "2006-02-12T13:52:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Operation\_Ripper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2006, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nations-asking-for-it/344107/1 "2006-02-12T13:52:47Z")
What nations have historically asked for a pummeling, more so than Iran has, in the past? Maybe I’m off base here, but Ahmadinejad seems to be begging for a smack down, per NUKES. Any other contenders? Nazi Germany perchance? ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2006, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nations-asking-for-it/344107/2 "2006-02-12T14:04:34Z")
For wanting nuclear power? "Seventeen countries depend on nuclear power for at least a quarter of their electricity. France and Lithuania get around three quarters of their power from nuclear energy, while Belgium, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Slovenia and Ukraine get one third or more. Japan, Germany and Finland get more than a quarter of their power from nuclear energy, while the USA gets one fifth. " I guess Iran is 18th on the list for a “smackdown” ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2006, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nations-asking-for-it/344107/3 "2006-02-12T14:09:23Z")
"Nuclear Issues Briefing Paper 7 January 2005 * * * The first commercial nuclear power stations started operation in the 1950s. There are now some 440 commercial nuclear power reactors operating in 31 countries, with over 364,000 MWe of total capacity. They supply 16% of the world’s electricity, as base-load power, and their efficiency is increasing. 56 countries operate a total of 284 research reactors reactors and a further 220 reactors power ships and submarines. " Make that that 57th. ---
**Author:** ![Jake4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bc8723/32.png) [@Jake4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake4)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2006, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nations-asking-for-it/344107/4 "2006-02-12T14:45:14Z")
Calm kiwi, I think you’re missing Operation Ripper’s point. He’s not talking about nuclear power plants, he’s talking about reactors that are being used to allegedly produce weapons-grade material. I don’t think he’s talking about Belgium, Switzerland, or Finland. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2006, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nations-asking-for-it/344107/5 "2006-02-12T14:48:02Z")
Given the baggage that goes along with your OP, I think this one belongs in Great Debates, perhaps just IMHO. But let’s shoot it over to GD. Moved. **samclem** GQ moderator ---
**Author:** ![Malodorous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@Malodorous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malodorous)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2006, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nations-asking-for-it/344107/6 "2006-02-12T15:44:24Z")
> [@Jake4](#): > > Calm kiwi, I think you’re missing Operation Ripper’s point. He’s not talking about nuclear power plants, he’s talking about reactors that are being used to allegedly produce weapons-grade material. I don’t think he’s talking about Belgium, Switzerland, or Finland. I would imagine that Belgium et al. enrich their own uranium, and thus their nuclear programs do include the ability to produce weapons-grade material. That’s sort of the problem in figuring out what the Iranians are up to, it’s a fairly thin line between the infrastructure needed to create nukes and that needed for a peaceful nuclear program. I agree Ahmadinejad is being needlessly bellicose, especially regarding Israel, but I think that the nuke issue is a bit more cloudy then the US press conveys. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2006, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nations-asking-for-it/344107/7 "2006-02-12T16:14:10Z")
Iran is further from Israel than Iraq was. And they’d have to fly through coalition-controlled airspace this time. What’s more, as I understand it, the Iranian facility is much more “hardened” than the Iraqi reactor was. And, this one is already fueled up as opposed to the one they took out back in '81. Think the Israelis would try it again? ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nations-asking-for-it/344107/8 "2006-02-13T23:17:50Z")
> [@Rysdad](#): > > Think the Israelis would try it again? No but I think the US will. In fact I’m beginning to think the US should have invaded Iran instead of Iraq. ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2006, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nations-asking-for-it/344107/9 "2006-02-14T08:36:07Z")
> [@Imasquare](#): > > … In fact I’m beginning to think the US should have invaded Iran instead of Iraq. Don’t mind me, I’m a bit of an arsehole.