TMCnet News
EDITORIAL: Iran(South Florida Sun-Sentinel (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Apr. 16--ISSUE: Bush denies plans to attack Iran. If only President Bush had credibility. Americans and others might then be reassured by his insistence that reports of U.S. plans to attack Iran, possibly with tactical nuclear weapons, are "wild speculation." If only Iran had credibility. Americans and others might then be reassured by that nation's insistence that it does not have a nuclear weapons program. Alas, neither has credibility, so the "wild speculation" is likely to continue. Seymour Hersh, writing in The New Yorker, says the United States is accelerating planning for possible military action to prevent Iran from going ahead with a program the U.S. and the U.N. say is aimed at developing nuclear weapons. Bush denies Hersh's claims, saying his administration is committed to a diplomatic solution and only routine contingency planning is under way. But such denials have been heard before -- in the case of Iraq. Americans can only hope important lessons have been learned from that misadventure. But make no mistake: Iran is a threat, albeit a manageable one for now, to U.S. interests and to world peace. Its barely rational president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has publicly called for the destruction of Israel, and Iran is a major sponsor of international terrorism. Such a nation must never be allowed to possess nuclear weapons. But because of Iraq, U.S. military options regarding Iran are limited, and any attack on Iran, a strong, unified country that could retaliate by firing missiles at Israel or at U.S. troop positions in Iraq, would be much riskier than invading Iraq. Diplomacy won't work without a credible threat of force, so the United States has little choice but to keep the military option on the table. But it must proceed with extreme caution, and any thought of using nuclear weapons in a first strike against anyone should be abandoned. BOTTOM LINE: The military option must be left open, but attacking Iran would be risky and the U.S. should proceed with caution. |