CHAPIN: Destroy nuclear facilities now

The Washington Times ^ | 3-18-09 | Roger Chapin

[JZelle]

Unwittingly, our president is taking a hugely unwarranted risk by offering to negotiate with the Iranians while having publicly proclaimed that we cannot allow them to have nuclear weapons.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will necessarily have to assume that once it becomes fully apparent Iran won't voluntarily abandon its nuclear quest, the United States will launch a pre-emptive strike. And if not, Israel certainly will.

We in turn would be foolhardy not to assume Iran would seek to clandestinely obtain nuclear warheads from Russia or North Korea in order to launch its own pre-emptive attacks. And given that the Russians are enabling the Iranians to develop nuclear weapons, it's not much of a stretch to assume the Russians would also be willing to sell them a few nukes.

The Russians would love to see a big blow-up in the Gulf drive oil prices sky high. Even better, if an Iranian electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack put the United States out of commission, no one would stand in the way of Russia regaining control of its former republics. Also,the Persian Gulf would be up for grabs. And no longer would North Korea need worry about the United States taking out its nukes.

As a practical matter, however, Iran's leadership would very likely survive a U.S. retaliatory attack, as would the great majority of their 70 million people. The Iranians, with their relatively low-tech society, would in many ways likely come out in much better shape than would the United States. And most important to the mullahs, we would then be incapable of displacing their regime.

[mainestategop]

[BGHater]

Good lord man, we won’t even defend our borders, now you want US to bomb Iran?

[Former Proud Canadian]

I stand to be corrected, but I do not believe that Iran today has the capability of mounting an EMP attack against the US or anyone else.

[PowderMonkey]

"Former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani said, "the use of an atomic bomb against Israel would destroy Israel completely, while [the same] against the Islamic only would cause damages. Such a scenario is not inconceivable."

Well, there you have it. Deluded as it is, the recipe for launching the first salvo: the instant one side thinks it can do it and win. I recall a chilling series of interviews conducted in the 1970s with the former members of the Japanese Imperial High Command. When asked why they chose to attack America at Pearl Harbor, each one responded that they didn't believe the U.S. would fight back. They expected immediate capitulation, because America had given every indication of its desire to avoid war. Instead, they "awakened a sleeping giant and filled him with a terrible resolve." Hell of a way to "wake up", boys.

[nuconvert]

Read

[Oldpuppymax]

Hussein launch an attack against Iran??!! I believe he has placed that on his “to do” list...right behind introducing that pro-life legislation and just before the corporate and individual 10% flat tax proposal.

[wolfcreek]

We discussed this topic before it seems.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/1390468/posts