Posted by
Patrick Henry on Tuesday, February 24, 2009 10:07:26 PM
U.S. economic distractions have allowed Iran to produce enough fissionable material to make a nuclear weapon. Their launch of a satellite capable missile suggests they may soon be in a position to target any nation on the globe with such a weapon. With TARP, Spendulus and the great mortgage bailout either finished or on the way, it is now time for President Barack Obama to tell the American people precisely what he intends to do about the Iranian threat.
"Threat" is the operative term, because not only are the fanatics in Tehran near the capability to eradicate an entire city with one blast, their actions and rhetoric suggest they may just be willing to do it. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called publicly for the annhilation of Israel, and his generals have directly threatened American forces abroad. Iran has supplied and trained Iraqi insurgents who have killed Americans. That is no longer a question for debate by serious people. They have armed and encouraged Hezbollah and Hamas in their attacks on Israeli and American targets. They have aided al-Qaeda in Yemen in their attack on the American embassy there. How much more is it going to take to convince this president that these people aren't kidding?
Obama has consistently expressed a prefeence to address the situation through diplomacy, saying that he would meet with Ahmadinejad "without preconditions." To that, Iran's foreign minister suggested that they might be open to talks after the USA publicly admits its crimes and apologizes for its policy toward Iran and the Muslim world. Gee, thanks. If Obama goes to the table under that cloud, one cannot help but be pessimistic about the outcome.
But this much is true: Obama firmly and publicly promised, during his campaign, that he would not accept a nuclear-armed Iran. It's time for Americans to stop worshipping him like a bunch of addled school children and call him out on that promise, because the clock is ticking. How about it Mr. President? What are you going to do about Iran? And are you planning to wait until New York and Los Angeles glow in the dark for a thousand years before you do it?
History has proven that the longer free nations appease tyranny and try to avoid military action, the more costly, intense and long that military action tends to be. Wouldn't a conventional intervention now be better than a nuclear one later? How many more Israelis and Americans do Hamas and Hezbollah have to butcher before America says enough? How well did we do in negotiating with Hitler, Stalin, Castro, Chavez, Saddam Hussein? Come on, Mr. President, it's time to fish or cut bait. What are you going to do about the Iranian nuclear threat, and when?