Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.
Iran's mullahocracy is mortal threat
http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | Suddenly, the Iranian nuclear program is all the buzz. It appears to be nearing the point at which weapons-grade material, if not actual atomic or nuclear weapons, will be in the hands of one of the world's most dangerous regimes. Given the magnitude of the danger thus posed, it is astounding that the world's response to date seems confined to rhetorical hand-wringing and diplomatic maneuvering.
To be sure, President Bush and his newly installed German counterpart spent much of their recent summit on the subject. Their entente on the matter evidently will clear the way for referring it to the UN Security Council.
Unfortunately, it seems likely to be subjected there to an open-ended gab-fest. After all, economic sanctions against Iran — the worst punishment most diplomats can imagine — will probably be blocked by the threat of vetoes from Iran's friends in Moscow and Beijing. In any event, U.S. officials are at pains to say that military action is not an option, at least for now.
One can only conclude that this rather flaccid response to the prospect of a nuclear-armed, Islamofascist Iran reflects a sense that the threat thus posed will be somebody else's problem. Certainly, it is a problem for Israel, which Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has declared should be "wiped off the map." But since many in the so-called "international community" have little more love than he does for the Jewish State (whether they admit it or not — look at their anti-Israel voting record in the UN), the threat to Israel is unlikely to catalyze action against Iran's mullahocracy.
But what if Iran's nuclear weapons were actually intended to bring about one of Ahmadinejad's other stated objectives: "a world without America"? Would we indulge in still more talk-a-thons like those of the last two-plus years led by the European Union 3 (Britain, France and Germany) — for which the Iranians have publicly expressed appreciation as "buying time" for their nuclear program?
In fact, there is reason to believe that the Iranian regime is working towards a capability that could destroy America as we know it. A blue-ribbon commission's report to the Congress last year (http://empcreport.ida.org/) found that a single nuclear weapon detonated in space high above the United States could unleash an immensely powerful electromagnetic pulse (EMP). An EMP wave a million times stronger than the most powerful radio transmitter would damage or destroy the electrical grid and unshielded electronic devices upon which our society utterly depends. The effect (visualized in a short video available at www.WarFooting.com) could be "catastrophic" — possibly reducing America from a 21st Century superpower to a pre-industrial society in the blink of an eye.
Iranian missile tests — including firing a Scud missile off a ship and flying the new Shahab 3 missile in a profile apparently designed to deliver a weapon into space — suggest that the mullahs are seeking an EMP capability. The sort of death and destruction such an attack might precipitate seem consistent with the apocalyptic vision of Shiite extremists, who believe such conditions to be the prerequisite for a messianic age ushered in by the arrival of the "12th imam."
If this is, indeed, what the Iranian regime has in mind, would we wait to act? Would we continue to contract out to the Europeans or the UN the job of protecting our security interests? Would we allow the Israelis — who are under no illusion that their country faces an existential threat from a nuclear-armed Iran — to act alone against a danger we may share?
The truth of the matter is that we now have no choice but to take several steps:
- First, we must seek to deter an attack on this country with credible, reliable and useable nuclear forces. This will require a resumption of nuclear testing and the introduction of new weapons designed to hold at risk what the Iranian regime holds dear.
- Second, we must field at once missile defenses capable of stopping an Iranian EMP attack. This will require immediately expanding the number of Navy ships with the Aegis fleet air defense system that are equipped to intercept ship-launched ballistic missiles.
-
Third, we must take active steps to reduce our nation's vulnerability to EMP attack. Rep. Roy Blunt has expressed his support for such steps. The other candidates to lead House Republicans are among those national leaders who should give this need priority attention.
As these measures will take time, it is incumbent upon us to make a concerted effort to help the Iranian people overthrow their government. The regime that threatens us oppresses them. We can — and must — energetically find ways to work against our common foe.
- Finally, we may have no choice but to use military force to disrupt, if not destroy, the Iranian nuclear weapons program. Preparations for doing so should be in train now as this option may need to be exercised far more quickly than some would have us believe.
Should such force be necessary, it must be used not only to target the regime's covert nuclear sites, but also the means by which the Iranian government exercises repressive control over its people (e.g., the security services, religious police, intelligence and communication systems). In so doing, we should make clear our solidarity with the people of Iran and that our fight is with their despotic and malevolent mullahs.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in Washington and in the media consider "must reading." Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. heads the Center for Security Policy. Comments by clicking here.
BUY FRANK'S LATEST"War Footing: 10 Steps America Must Take to Prevail in the War for the Free World" America has been at war for years, but until now, it has not been clear with whom or precisely for what. And we have not been using the full resources we need to win. With the publication of War Footing, lead-authored by Frank Gaffney, it not only becomes clear who the enemy is and how high the stakes are, but also exactly how we can prevail. War Footing shows that we are engaged in nothing less than a War for the Free World. This is a fight to the death with Islamofascists, Muslim extremists driven by a totalitarian political ideology that, like Nazism or Communism before it, is determined to destroy freedom and the people who love it. Sales help fund JWR. |
