Israel and Iran

What will be America’s response if Iran gets a nuclear weapon? Apparently the answer is, nothing. Caroline Glick (columnist for the Jerusalem Post) reports that CIA chief Leon Panetta sharply criticized Israel for its government warning against an attack on Iran. Dick Morris is a recent column called it “The Death of Israel.”

Caroline Glick reports that the Obama administration has all but accepted as irreversible and unavoidable the fact that Iran will soon develop nuclear weapons. As she puts it, this “administration has made its peace with Iran’s nuclear aspirations.” They acknowledge that Iran will use future talks to simply “run down the clock before they test a nuclear weapon.” Apparently many in the administration believe that “if Israel could just leave Iran’s nuclear installations alone, Iran would behave itself.”

President Obama’s end-of-the-year deadline for Iranian talks is all carrot and no stick. There is no military threat, only an economic threat. And even that threat is an empty threat since Russia and China will not let the United Nations act to deter Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon.

Dick Morris believes that this means “Israel’s life is in danger.” He believes that if Iran gets the bomb, “it will use it to kill six million Jews.” Retaliation will not make any difference. It doesn’t deter a suicide bomber, and it is unlikely to deter Iran or its leaders from attempting to eliminate Israel. Iran may not actually launch a nuclear weapon, but may prefer to pass it to other terrorists in order to deny responsibility.

I trust you are as concerned about this administration’s fatalistic assumption that there is nothing we can do to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. The options for the U.S. government are not good, but an Israel destroyed by a nuclear bomb are too horrible to contemplate. We must ask this administration to do more to protect Israel. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.