So Rob, if you understand that ending the Iranian nuclear program doesn't mean the same thing as delaying their program, then you're simply taking my statement out of context and arguing against your own strawman.
My claim: If X then Y = IF we do an Iraq style invasion of Iran THEN the US will face an economic collapse.
I am using a very specific scenario to propose a very specific conclusion.
Your argument: A does not lead to Y = Airstrikes alone will not lead to a US collapse.
I have never argued that anything less than a full invasion of Iran will lead to economic collapse in the US. Additionally, I have not argued that a full invasion of Iran is the most likely scenario for dealing with Iran. The only way to derive such conclusions from the statement, "preventing the first will lead to the second" is to completely ignore the context in which that statement was made, i.e. an Iraq style invasion of Iran to prevent them from EVER aquiring or using nuclear weapons.
Therefore, if you want to argue that X will not lead to Y, then we will be discussing the conclusion in the context of the scenario I actually offered. However, if you want to argue that something other than X will not lead to Y, or that X is not the most likely scenario by which we will deal with Iran, then you are merely offering a red herring.
Now as for your statement that another 2 trillion in spending will not sink us, you seem to be looking at that spending as taking place inside a vacuum without regard for any other negative factors, much less the high probability of them having a ripple effect. You do not appear to accounting for any of the obvious deleterious effects of an all out war with Iran in making such a statement.
And lastly, in defense of my assertion that the US is already in decline, just because an unknown portion of the USS America remains above the water line does not change the fact that no less than $15 trillion worth of the ship is known to be underwater, that we have been steadily sinking into debt for over a century, and the pace at which we are sinking has drastically increased over the last decade. So the claim that we can handle $2 trillion more in debt may or may not be true, doesn't matter, at some point our overspending will collapse the nation. I'm sure the Greeks felt as you did about their own debt, that spending just a little bit more wouldn't result in catastrophe... and by the time they saw the warning signs, like thier interest rates reaching 6-7%, it was too late because such signs only become obvious once your ship is fully submerged below the waterline.
