Remember when the left went crazy, claiming George W. Bush "knew" that the attacks of 9/11 were going to happen? They cited an August 6, 2001 President's Daily Brief (not Briefing, fyi) as their source. For the record, here's the germane part of the brief itself: "We have not been able to corroborate some of the more sensational threat reporting, such as that from a (redacted) service in 1998 saying that Bin Laden wanted to hijack a U.S. aircraft to gain the release of 'Blind Sheikh' Omar Abdel Rahman and other U.S.-held extremists.
Nevertheless, FBI information since that time indicates patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks, including recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York. The FBI is conducting approximately 70 full-field investigations throughout the U.S. that it considers bin Laden-related. CIA and the FBI are investigating a call to our embassy in the UAE in May, saying that a group or bin Laden supporters was in the U.S. planning attacks with explosives."
This is the extent of what the former president knew. That he has been on the receiving end of leftist excoriation for not "preventing" the worst domestic attack in American history should surprise no one.
So why am I bringing it up? Because I believe turnabout is fair play. Because I'm going public with a theory which, should it ever come to pass, will be out in the public domain prior to its execution. It is being published here at Jewish World Review, a fairly prominent website that draws a lot of traffic, demonstrated by the fact that many of my columns, and those of others printed here, have led to their dissemination at far more prominent news entities. So here goes:
It is entirely possible that Iran, after achieving nuclear capability, will use that capability — and detonate a device in the Strait of Hormuz.
Fantastic? About as fantastic as flying hijacked jetliners into the Word Trade Center and the Pentagon. Suicidal? Isn't suicide one of the principal methods radical Islam uses to advance its political agenda? A substantial faction of the theocratic government that rules Iran already has an apocalyptic worldview. It is based on the theory of the Twelfth, or Hidden Imam, aka Muhammad al-Mahdi, who will return to the earth leading a powerful army in the "final battle" between good and evil. The Mahdi's victory will set the stage for the emergence of a worldwide Islamic Caliphate.
One of the genuine true believers of this theory? Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
20 percent of the world's oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz. And while Iran has made several recent threats to shut it down in retaliation for the latest round of sanctions levied against them, Americans have been "reassured" that it would only be a matter of time before the U.S. Navy defeated Iranian forces and re-opened the Strait. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, who apparently resides in the la-la land of progressive wishful thinking, told "Face the Nation" host Bob Schieffer that he believes Iran isn't trying to develop a nuclear weapon, just "nuclear capability." Panetta also said that the U.S. would "not tolerate" the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz.
All well and good — unless the Iranian government goes the national suicide/apocalyptic route and "merely" renders the passageway radioactively unusable. Not for days. For years. Think factions of the Iranian government wouldn't consider totally destroying their own country's economy a viable tradeoff for destroying the rest of the world's economy at the same time? Wasn't ruining America's economyprecisely what animated Osama Bin Laden's vision of 9/11? Isn't martyrdom an integral part of radical Islam?
I make no claims of military expertise whatsoever. But I know the so-called experts aren't perfect. If they were, Pearl Harbor and 9/11 might have been prevented. I say might because I believe those tasked with the awesome responsibility of defending this nation are only as good as the information they get makes them. The purpose of this column is to illuminate a possibility that may have already been considered by minds far more astute than mine.
But why take chances? However implausible committing national suicide may seem to Western minds, advancing the Islamist agenda has trumped rationality for the true believers for decades. In fact strapping on a dynamite suit and heading for the nearest civilian population center has become virtually routine. Those who think people with that mindset wouldn't up the ante are hopelessly naive.
It's a naivete that's acceptable among the civilian population. Among those who must consider every possibility, no matter how remote, it is a tragic flaw of monumental proportions. Here's hoping they've considered everything I've outlined here, and are doing their best to prevent it from happening. Maybe that's an impossibility, but one thing is certain:
As of now, they can't say they weren't warned of the possibility. In advance.
