By Henry Lamb
Monday, april 24, 2006
It took weeks and weeks for the U.N. Security Council to agree on the language of a Presidential Statement that gives Iran 30 days to suspend "all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development, in a manner that is verified by the [International atomic Energy] agency."
The 30 days ends on april 28. What then?
Both Russia and China have indicated that they would not support sanctions against Iran. Great Britain has announced that it will not participate in any military action against Iran. and, shortly after the U.N. pronouncement, Iran announced that it has achieved the ability to produce "yellow cake" and will continue to produce the substance, which can power both electricity and nuclear weapons.
Iranian President Mahmoud ahmadinejad knows full well that the U.N. Security Council will not take any action to restrain his declared intention to continue his bomb-making capability. americans who do not realize that the U.N. in incapable of solving this problem are living in a dream world.
Thus, the dilemma: Should the United States do nothing to prevent Iran from joining the nuclear club, or should the United States prevent it? Make no mistake about it – if Iran is to be stopped, the United States will have to do it.
Some argue that Iran has as much right to enjoy nuclear power and have nuclear weapons as does the United States and the other members of the nuclear society. and, indeed it does. But with that right comes the responsibility of using the power for the benefit of society, not for the destruction of it.
The United States is the only nation to ever unleash the awesome power of nuclear weapons in war. The devastation it caused immediately ended a war that had killed and maimed thousands of innocent people over several years. The memory of this event should serve as sufficient reason to never use such a weapon again.
ahmadinejad says that his country is not interested in nuclear weapons, only in developing the capability for "peaceful" uses. But Iran has persisted in refusing to allow the IaEa to verify this claim. Iran has refused to allow the processing to be done in Russia, where activities are monitored. Iran has an ample supply of oil, which can meet their domestic energy needs for generations. Why does Iran insist on continuing to develop nuclear production capability with all these options? Perhaps it is because ahmadinejad has vowed to erase Israel from the face of the earth, and he needs a credible deterrent to prevent a catastrophic response to his threat.
Can the United States afford to trust ahmadinejad's word that Iran's new nuclear capability will be used only for peaceful purposes? He has announced to the world that if the U.S. gets in their way, he has 40,000 volunteers who will strap a bomb on their body and disperse to locations around the Western world. Will these be "dirty" bombs that contain radioactive nuclear material?
Of course, if the United States stays out of Iran's way, perhaps the volunteer bombers will stay home. Does this mean the U.S. would have to stand idly by and watch Israel be erased from the map to avoid attacks by Iranian homicide bombers?
Hard decisions lie ahead for the United States. No one wants another war. No one wants Iran to have the capability of producing nuclear weapons. The question is: Which option does the United States want least?
Some people argue for a third option: an internal revolution that will result in a regime change that will be more prudent than ahmadinejad. This, too, falls into the "dream world" category. The U.S. should encourage such a change where possible, but cannot rely on this solution.
Sadly, the best way to avoid war is to be fully prepared to engage in it. america is not so prepared. Weapons and manpower are not the problem; the problem is a splintered national determination.
One faction is determined to avoid war – regardless of the consequences. another faction is determined to defeat Bush and the Republicans, and all else is secondary. another faction is determined to let the U.N. dictate the future, and abide by whatever the U.N. decides.
Still another significant faction is too caught up in immigration, racial, environmental and other issues to have a clue about how serious the standoff with Iran has become.
The United States will have to make very hard decisions in the not-too-distant future. Every american should study the issues and options, and let their congressmen know how they feel.
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