Cruz: Iran Might Nuke New York or Los Angeles

Roll Call ^ | 01/29/2014 | Niels Lesniewski and Matt Fuller

[SoConPubbie]

(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Sen. Ted Cruz said after the State of the Union address that President Barack Obama’s Iran policy could lead to a nuclear weapon being detonated over a major U.S. city.

“I thought that was one of the most dangerous things in the entire speech,” Cruz said of Obama’s commitment to veto new Iran sanctions as talks continue with the international community. “What I fear is that we’re making the mistakes of the past — the same mistakes the Clinton administration made with North Korea. With North Korea, we relaxed the sanctions in exchange for amorphous promises, and the billions that North Korea received in relaxed sanctions, they used to develop nuclear weapons.

“The risk is unacceptable. When you have the leaders of a nation who have said, among other things, they intend to drive Israel into the sea and wipe them off the face of the map — if Iran acquires a nuclear weapon, the risk is unacceptable that that weapon will be detonated over the skies of Tel Aviv or New York or Los Angeles,” Cruz said. “The results could be hundreds of thousands of innocent lives lost.”

That kind of rhetoric will get attention, with Cruz explaining his case about how the North Korean regime controlling nuclear weapons is less of a threat than Iran.

“What makes this much, much more dangerous than North Korea is, at the end of the day, Kim Jong Un wants to stay in power more than anything else, and for someone that wants to stay in power, deterrence is possible,” Cruz argued, saying the same may not be true of the Iranian leadership.

Cruz did find some areas of agreements with the president; he agreed with Obama on “streamlining red tape and reducing regulations.” But he did go on to mention that the president had “used that rhetoric before.” Cruz also mentioned a program Obama discussed: myRA, which, the president said, was “a new way for working Americans to start their own retirement savings.”

Obama described the program as a new savings bond that would encourage Americans to build a nest egg.

“I am a passionate supporter of anything that enables people to save on their own, to have assets that they own, that they control, that they can bequest to their kids,” Cruz said. “And so, depending on the details, that could be something that he could find a lot of support.”

Cruz was holding court with a collection of reporters in Statuary Hall long after most of his Senate colleagues had departed. Cruz also spoke with a large number of national and regional TV crews.

Asked what one word he would use to describe the speech, Cruz said: “disappointing.” Not surprisingly, he criticized the way the president spoke about health care and economic policy.

“Throughout the entire of the hour-plus-long speech there was no acknowledgment that the Obama economic policies are not working, that they have produced the lowest labor force participation since 1978, that millions of Americans have lost their jobs, have been forced into part-time work, have lost their health insurance,” Cruz said.

[SoConPubbie]

	"If we must have an enemy at the head of Government, let it be one whom we can oppose, and for whom we are not responsible, who will not involve our party in the disgrace of his foolish and bad measures." - Alexander Hamilton "We don't intend to turn the Republican Party over to the traitors in the battle just ended. We will have no more of those candidates who are pledged to the same goals as our opposition and who seek our support. Turning the Party over to the so-called moderates wouldn’t make any sense at all." -- President Ronald Reagan "A thing moderately good is not so good as it ought to be. Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice." - Thomas Paine 1792 "It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men." - Samuel Adams "If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen." - Samuel Adams

[SoConPubbie]

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[Tennessee Nana]

Cruz: Iran Might Nuke New York or Los Angeles
___________________________________________________

Obama: Yeah but it will be friendly...

[Fiji Hill]

Nuke New York or LA, two of the “bluest” cities in America, and home to a large portion of the the country’s liberal-left elite? That would be like shooting Santa Claus.

[MNGal]

I’m suprised that Cruz isn’t suspicious of the Obama retirement plan proposal. In light of the failure of Social Security, I can’t imagine why anyone would want to give their money to the government for “safe-keeping” or investment.

[PLD]

“The results could be hundreds of thousands of innocent lives lost.”

I do not think the Iranians will take out those two states,why would they..The democrats are like roaches in those states there are thousands of them..Iran would not want to lose there supporters..so they won’t do a thing to them..

[SoConPubbie]

I do not think the Iranians will take out those two states,why would they..The democrats are like roaches in those states there are thousands of them..Iran would not want to lose there supporters..so they won’t do a thing to them..

The Islamic Terrorists(Redundant I know), did this the last time they attacked us (9-11).

They don't think they way you and I do.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Cruz apparently thinks they’re not dumb enough to take out Washington and do us the greatest favor in world history.

[Wallace T.]

Agreed. The Iranians do not have intercontinental missile capability and a nuclear attack on U.S. cities would result in the end of Iran. However, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa are entirely different in terms of Iran's capability. Israel is understood to have nuclear capacity, but how much they have is not widely known by the public.

[broken_arrow1]

Iran might nuke New York or Los Angeles.

"Take my wife,.....please?" Henny Youngman

[DuncanWaring]

Intercontinental missiles are not necessary to attack NYC and LA.

A good-sized fishing boat would work well.

[2CAVTrooper]

We can probable survive without those two cities.

Just have to move most of Fox News out of New York... They can leave Shep, Beckel, Juan, and Geraldo to report on the aftermath.

[mountainlion]

Iran might nuke New York or Los Angeles.

Missing New York would be less a deal for me than Los Angeles as I am down wind.

[The Great RJ]

If the Iranians nuked New York, there would no longer be a UN for Obama to call for help and a platform for tin horn dictators, despots and Arab oil sheiks to denounce Western democracies while begging them for money. Would Obama change his Iran policy if some environmental group told him that nuclear wars cause massive global warming?

[grania]

I can't imagine why anyone would want to give their money to the gov't for "safe-keeping"

There are already plenty of options for retirement savings, including many with FDIC insured CD options. The only problem is that there isn't much point in tying up money for 1% (or so) interest. With the IRAs that now exist, the feds don't own our money.

In a federal program, that'll be bad news. It will end up being like an enhanced Social Security, an annuity type situation where when a person dies the money is gone. It's all about not passing wealth to the next generation.

[meatloaf]

It wouldn’t surprise me. If we get nuked it will be by ship. Plenty of ship yards where a ship could go in for repairs. The weapon would be placed on board and concealed. Maybe one or two of the crew might know. Ship would resume work. At some point it would pick up cargo destined for NY/NJ. Weapon is detonated on the Hudson. Nothing unusual would give the plot away until it was too late.

[Wallace T.]

The possibility of a sneak attack is worrisome, as the military is demoralized and gutted under Obama. Remember that the reaction to the 9-11 attacks was lethargic to say the least. As I recall, the only available fighters in the Northeast belonged to the Massachusetts National Guard even though we had no overseas engagements at the time of the attack. Crashing a passenger jet into the Pentagon itself was inexcusable and demonstrated poor preparedness.

The only saving grace is that if Iran were to undertake a sneak attack, it would be signing its national death warrant.

[GrandJediMasterYoda]

Nuke New York? Is that a bad thing?

[chris37]

I don’t really see a problem.

[BwanaNdege]

Intercontinental missiles are not necessary to attack NYC and LA.

A good-sized fishing boat would work well.

Exactly! Why is everyone so fixated on an ICBM?

However, instead of a fishing boat, a small yacht, say a 35' to 45' Bertram, would be able to cruise right up the Hudson, Potomac, St. Lawrence, Mississippi/Ohio/Missouri, etc. You could not get LA this way, but San Francisco or Seattle would be sitting ducks.

If they really want an air burst, use their recently granted Airline landing rights & load their shiny new bomb on one of their Iran Air Boeing 747SP airliners, file a flight plan for JFK or Dulles and program the in-flight entertainment system with the latest "Allahu Akbar" DVDs...