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EDITORIAL: Scary words from Iran(Post-Bulletin (Rochester, MN) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Apr. 14--Iran is scaring Americans. The fear is that Iran's announcement this week that it is now a nuclear nation means it has both the capacity and the desire to build the bomb. In Rochester on Wednesday, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said of Iran, "The news of the last 24 hours has been very disturbing." McCain was in Rochester to campaign for 1st District Rep. Gil Gutknecht. McCain was also furthering his not-so-under-the-radar presidential aspirations. On Iran, McCain said there are few choices, only "bad options and worse options." McCain would not rule out the need for the United States to take military action to stop Iran from gaining the capability of producing nuclear weapons. President Bush doesn't want Iran to have nuclear weapons. For good reasons, neither does Israel. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has promised the destruction of Israel. In direct defiance of Bush and the United Nations, Iran says that it will continue to develop a nuclear program. The United Nations has demanded that Iran cease its nuclear development April 28. If it doesn't, what then? Seymour Hersh reported in the New Yorker magazine that the Bush administration is making plans for a military response to Iran should the country continue to expand its nuclear capability. Officially, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday that the U.N. Security Council needs to take "strong steps." In Rochester, McCain echoed Rice. McCain said the United States needs European allies to press for U.N. sanctions against Iran. Then, he said, Russia and China need to be persuaded not to use their veto power in the Security Council to block sanctions. War with Iran is almost unthinkable. Worse might be war between Iran and Israel. Any action Israel would be almost guaranteed to become the cause of a wild flare-up of Arab passions. As McCain said, the choices are bad and worse. Now is the time for the Bush administration to work the United Nations. Any military action walks the United States too close to a second war or a full-scale Middle East conflict. A maximum effort is needed to avoid conflict. |