Grappling with Iran
By Carol Devine-Molin (12/17/07)
Americans understand the fundamental circumstances that relate to Islamo-fascist Iran, and it's going to take a heck of a lot more than the current drivel being propagated by some CIA and State Department types to persuade the public otherwise. There's been plenty of information on Iran out in the public domain for many years for people to develop informed opinions. Iran's thug-in-chief, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has repeatedly threatened both Israel and America with extinction and has moved with alacrity toward uranium enrichment despite the strong disapproval of many in the world community. Moreover, the Iranian regime is profoundly bellicose as the premier supporter of terrorism and mayhem, not only through its Quds Force and Hezbollah, but its links to al-Qaeda (as substantiated in the 9/11 Commission Report). Apparently, the Left-leaning apparatchiks that authored the recent National Intelligence Estimate think we shouldn't believe our own lying eyes and ears; but, rather, we should dutifully submit to their blatant propaganda. Well, it's not happening.
Wall Street Journal editorialists indicate that “our own ‘confidence’ is not heightened by the fact that the NIE's main authors include three former State Department officials with previous reputations as ‘hyper-partisan anti-Bush officials’, according to an intelligence source. They are Tom Fingar, formerly of the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research; Vann Van Diepen, the National Intelligence Officer for WMD; and Kenneth Brill, the former U.S. Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).”
Let’s be clear: The CIA is not only incredibly inept, it’s diligently pushing its liberal anti-Bush agenda as evidenced by the unmitigated spin put forth in its recent National Intelligence Estimate (NIE). Thankfully, the American gut-check reflects considerable wisdom on the issue of Iran’s nuclear ambitions. The public is understandably skeptical of the NIE’s claim that Iran had halted its nuclear program in 2003. In a national telephone survey conducted by Rasmussen Reports in the wake of the NIE release, only 18 percent of Americans believe that “Iran has stopped its nuclear weapons program”, while about two-thirds of Americans reject that notion. Moreover, about 67 percent of Americans still view Iran as a threat to US national security.
For most Americans, Ahmadinejad is the personification of evil. It’s pretty difficult to stomach this guy that helped to blow up and murder our soldiers in Iraq. However, to watch Ahmadinejad doing his victory lap pursuant to the NIE report is almost too much to bear. As per Agence France Presse, “President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday boasted that a US intelligence report on Iran's nuclear programme was a ‘great victory’ for Tehran and said the country would need to aim for 50,000 centrifuges to enrich uranium.” OK, now Ahmadinejad believes he has carte blanche to obtain all the fuel that he desires for his nuclear program. Given Iran’s track record, does any rational person doubt that the Mullah-run, death-cult regime is moving inexorably toward nuclear weapons capability? The Iranians already possess the technological know-how; it’s the fissile fuel that’s now key. Alarmingly, Iran can acquire fissile fuel unencumbered courtesy of the NIE.
This NIE report has particularly shaken America’s friend and primary ally in the Middle East, the nation of Israel. In her recent column in the Jerusalem Post entitled “The Abandonment of Jews”, Caroline Glick notes: “Whether the president agrees or disagrees with the NIE, he is boxed in just the same. The NIE denies him the option of taking military action against Iran's nuclear program for the duration of his tenure in office. So for at least 14 months, Iran has nothing to worry about from Washington.”
The Israelis feel terribly vulnerable, and the NIE only exacerbates their fears. Frankly, because this highly politicized “intelligence” report patently undercut efforts to effectuate strong sanctions against Iran, the likelihood of a military action to truly halt its nuclear program has actually increased. The world community will utilize the NIE as an excuse to avoid the implementation of harsh international sanctions, which really were the only hope we had of eliciting Iranian cooperation. But as much as I admire Ms. Glick, I believe she’s being overly pessimistic. Ultimately Israel, with US assistance, will have to launch airstrikes upon Iran’s nuclear facilities to prevent the crazed regime from developing nuclear weapons. And there’s still a reasonable chance that President Bush will be in office when that occurs.
Unfortunately, diplomacy has virtually zero chance of working with these Iranian fanatics. However, unlike many conservatives, I applaud all diplomatic efforts made by Condoleezza Rice to engage the Iranians. I believe we have to go through the Kabuki dance to demonstrate to both domestic and international elements that we tried all possible avenues before turning to the final option, military strikes.
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