Why America must halt Iran’s nuke ambitions
Pop Quiz 1: Which of the following is true?
A) It took Iran 25 years to build one subway line in its only major city, and 27 years to fully open a new airport.
B) Just as in 1980, Iran is front-and-centerintheAmerican presidential election, resulting in Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s ego going through the mosque roof.
C) Iran fell in line when America had a strong leader with a decisive policy on terrorism.
Answer: All of the above.
So how can such a backwards country – despite its very educated and prodigious people – continually dominate headlines, and significantly affect American foreign policy?
Easy. Chalk it up to a long history of bipartisan ineptitude and cowardice in dealing with the Middle East, especially Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons – an endeavor, by the way, that it just rejumpstarted with vigor.
Sure, we’re told by the “experts” that the Iranian situation is far too complex for the average American to understand, since it’s a global chess game best played by diplomatic masters using “back channels” and carefully-nuanced language.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Fact is, on the day Ronald Reagan was inaugurated, all 52 American hostages were released after 444 days of captivity. Similarly, after President Trump took out terror mastermind General Qassem Soleimani, Iran fell in line by waging “fierce revenge” – a missile attack that deliberately failed to target American forces and their military assets, for good reason.
Pop Quiz Two, again looking for true statements:
A) For years, Libya was a rogue nation that openly engaged in terrorism, harbored the training camp for the Achille Lauro cruise ship hijackers, bombed the Rome and Vienna airports, bombed the Berlin nightclub that killed a U.S. serviceman, and incinerated Pan Am Flight 103.
B) Libya fell in line when the U.S. had a bold leader with a decisive policy on terrorism.
C) Leader Moammar Gadhafi became a reliable player who did everything the U.S. demanded of him. While no angel, and clearly acting out of self-preservation, Gadhafi nonetheless “played ball,” helping to root out terrorists and stopping his WMD programs. Gadhafi was even taken off the statesponsored terrorism list and praised by George W. Bush and Condoleezza Rice for his cooperation.
Again, all of the above. The lesson is abundantly clear. For America to achieve success in the Middle East, rogue nations and terrorist organizations must be made to understand that any terror directed toward the U.S. or our allies will be met with adisproportionatelypowerful response, with the ante exponentially increased for each successive transgression. So long as America rules out placing boots on the ground, it’s a fight it cannot lose.
Iran’s incompetence in shooting down a civilian airliner has provided America a temporary distraction from that nation’s ever-expanding quest for Middle Eastern turmoil. But one thing is certain: TheIranianregimeisn’tstopping its nefarious activities unless and until it is toppled by dissidents. Granted, any country that takes more than a quarter-century to build an airport and subway doesn’t exactlymakeonequakeinhis boots, but if Iran succeeds in buildinganuclearweapon,all bets are off – and no one on the planet is safe.
Thethreatisn’tIranlaunching a nuclear missile, since its leaders know that doing so wouldcondemntheircountry to becoming the world’s largest piece of glass. Israel and theUnitedStateswouldretaliatewithamassivenuclearattack, and Iran would lose in every possible way.
The greater danger is Iran providing nukes and nuclear technology to terrorists who would love to make New York uninhabitable for a hundred years. That is an unacceptable risk – but given that the entire Americanintelligencecommunity was inexcusably wrong in believing that North Korea was years from developing reliable intercontinental nuclear missiles (it already had them), there is lots to be done to ensure those same mistakes do not occur with Iran.
Here’s how to deal with Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons:
1) Deal with rogue nations in the only language they understand: Steel resolve, an iron fist, and the mettle to act – not talk.
For sheer horror, nothing beats terrorists detonating nuclear weapons. Cities wouldbeuninhabitable.Markets would plunge, leading to an unprecedented global depression. Martial law would beimposed,andcivilliberties would become unaffordable luxuries of the past. Chaos would rule, life in the West would never be the same, and the terrorists, for all practical purposes, would have won.
Achieving a “99” test grade is fantastic, but that score, applied to stopping nucleararmed terrorists, would be a catastrophic failure. So the strategy is very straightforward. As Coach Boone said in “Remember The Titans,” “We will be perfect in every aspect of the game.”
Because if we aren’t, it’s game over.
The most important step is to not make idle threats – and this goes for whomever wins in 2020. Nothing is more counterproductive than a war of rhetoric with no hammer. Hollow words are appeasement, and send a message that we are weak –acarteblancheforadversaries to advance their interests unimpeded. It is only when a leader lays out a crystal clear policy – and the resolve to execute it – that the situation changes.
Sanctions are a solid step, but many countries cheat with no repercussions. If sanctions are circumvented, and nuclear technology and supplies get through, what’s the point of having them? Offenders must be called out for their illegal actions in front of the global community – and severely punished. We have the biggest stick, but must use it. If there was ever a president willing to do so, it is, most certainly, Donald Trump.
And forget U.N. weapons inspectors. They have no teeth, and therefore are worthless. Saddam Hussein played the U.N “inspections” game masterfully, stringing out the process and turning it into a laughingstock. We got lucky, since he had no nuclear program. Not the case with Iran.
The U.S. must deal with the Middle Eastern world in the only language it understands: Ultimatums backed up by a massive sledgehammer for noncompliance.
2) The U.S., unilaterally if necessary, should enact and enforce a global ban on any additionalnationsdeveloping nukes. Period. Any country pursuing a nuclear program forpeacefulpurposes,butnot allowing American inspectors total access, would have theirlaunchpads,centrifuges and laboratories, both above and below ground, obliterated.Theirdefenseheadquarters,alongwithcriticalstrategic and communication sites, must also be leveled. Loss of life cannot be a primary consideration. Instead, the harsh but necessary “one thousand will die so that a million may live” axiom must be employed.
On this point, there can never be negotiation or compromise. If 20,000 pounds of bombs are needed, then drop 200,000. Pound the facilities into oblivion by a force magnifier of ten. Then hit them again.
While some will say this policy is unrealistic, overkill, or would destabilize the Middle East (like it isn’t already), look at history. When Israel took out Iraq’s nuclear facilities at Osirak in 1981, it rebutted detractors who pontificated that it couldn’t be done. More important, even though the world feigned “disapproval,” every single nation – including and especially Iran – breathed a huge sigh of relief. Israel is still in existence, Iraq became a nuclear eunuch, and the world is a quantitatively safer place.
If our resolve does not weaken, and if we respect the sovereignty of other nations (excepting the nuclear weapons issue), America will stand proud as the world leader representing peace through strength.
At the risk of using the wrong messenger to convey the right message, let’s employ the words of Al Capone in “The Untouchables:”
“Somebody messes with me,I’mgonnamesswithhim. Somebodystealsfromme,I’m gonna say you stole ... You can get further with a kind word and a gun, than you can with just a kind word.”
America has the gun, and Iran the pea-shooter. Since humankind hangs in the balance, let’s keep it that way.