US Dropping the Ball

Monday, August 14th, 2006 2:16 pm by Neal
Russian missle parts for Shahab-3 – 1300 mile range, put Israel and US forces in the region in reach. Chinese companies have sold CSS-8 and DF-15 ballistic missiles to Iran, along with cruise missiles identified as HY-1, HY-2 Silkworm, C-201, C-601, C-801 and C-802. (Photo and caption credit. Oh, the irony.)

Imagine these Iranian missiles with nuclear tips. Unless the US wakes up, that day will come soon.

Paul at powerline makes a depressing point in his post, “Why the U.S. and Israel are the losers”.

Don’t miss the NRO Symposium on Lebanon. The participants, some of the clearest thinking experts on Israel and the Middle East, conclude with near unanimity that the bad guys won. The best any of them can say about the outcome is that it was “a squandered opportunity” (Saul Singer).

Some of the participants see one positive from the episode, a positive that has nothing to do with the U.N. resolution or the U.S. role. Hezbollah has now revealed what it can and cannot do against Israel. This is a plus because the Hezbollah presence in Lebanon has been viewed as an important card held by Iran. We now know that the card, while significant, is not high enough to deter action against Iran’s nuclear facilities — not, that is, until Iran is able to supply nuclear warheads to Hezbollah.

Unfortunately, I think it’s unlikely that this administration, constrained as it now is by the desire to please France, Kofi Annan, and world opinion generally, will take military action against Iran.

Unfortunately, Paul is probably right about the Bush Administration’s lack of will to take out Iran’s nuclear facilities. This is a serious, possibly fatal, mistake. If the US doesn’t do whatever is necessary — world opinion be damned — to act unilaterally to attack and destroy Iran’s nuclear capabilities, we will one day pay the price. I don’t know why the President doesn’t understand this. Then again, I don’t know why he worked with France (of all countries) to broker a ceasefire in Lebanon.

Map of Iran’s nuclear sites.

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