Since when is attacking the US a suicidal act? Iran has been at war with the USA since 1979 and we don't do much about them.
That's a bait-and-switch: there's a world of difference between "been at war with" and "attacked." Most importantly, "been at war with" is basically a bit of rhetoric: over that entire 28-year period Iran has barely conducted any actions against the US, direct or indirect. The only notable exception was the "hostage crisis." Iran has
never attacked the US.
Have you ever heard of Hezbollah? Yeah, the Iranian-supplied & supported terrorist organization? Some Marine widows might take issue with your erroneous statement.
From that you're making the leap to something like setting off a nuke in the US? They're well aware Iran would be sterilized of everything bigger than a sand flea if they nuked the US. And no other sort of attack would mean a thing: Iran has no offensive capability at all. They lack any naval or air forces with which to project any force into the Western hemisphere.
I listen and take seriously when folks threaten me or others with bodily injury. The Iranian president has stated in speeches that he intends to wipe Israel (Little Satan) off the map. It doesn't take too much imagination to figure out what he'd like to do to the Great Satan.
I doubt they would use a manned vehicle to deliver a nuke. A ballistic missile or, better yet, smuggle it into the 'States via porous borders.
Al Qeda made several attacks on the US before 9/11. We didn't do much about them.
Small potatoes--a failed attempt to sabotage a building on a coward's watch. Consider the US response to even a marginally successful attack: 9/11, while dramatic, involved the same loss of life as one month's traffic fatalities in the US. We have twelve 9/11s every year on our highways, and we don't bat an eye. But we responded by killing tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands depending who's counting. (Most of them had nothing to do with 9/11, but that's another matter.)
Al Qeda is responsible for at least:
1993 WTC bombing
African embassy bombings
USS Cole bombing
Our politicians count on us not remembering their promises and perfidies. Our enemies count on us not remembering their attacks against us.
Anyway, that is beside the point. Human nature is what it is: corrupt and grasping. Only constant socialization will ensure that most folks will play well with others as adults. Even then, some will revert back to their corrupt nature and kill, steal, and generally abuse those who did them no harm. No provocation is necessary.
To convert that observation into a practical scenario requires assuming an astonishing number of people be astonishingly stupid, plus suicidal.
Len, wake up and smell reality.
Are you in the same population I am? "Cause the one I am in has 1/2 of that population mustering less than median intelligence. A goodly proportion of those 150+ millions (in the USA alone) would qualify as, "sand-poundingly stupid." I don't know if that number would be "astonishing. It sure is real.
Do we need to be convinced that a lot of folks are willing to condemn themselves to certain death to advance their cause? Great masses of them shriek their willingness to do so in front of witnesses with recording devices. A significant number follow through on their threats.
From your posts, it seems you have some familiarity with the Bible. I would suggest taking to heart its findings on human nature. Heck, the nature of human nature was known by teh ancient pagans:
"HUman nature is bad. Good is a human product...A warped piece of wood must be steamed and forced before it is made straight; a metal blade must be put to the whetstone before it becomes sharp. Since the nature of people is bad, to become corrected they must be taught by teachers and to be orderly they must acquire ritual and moral principles."
----Sun Tzu