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Deterring Iran from Attacking a U.S. Ally

[Washington Post] Charles Krauthammer - The latest round of UN Security Council sanctions, which took a year to achieve, is comically weak. It represents the end of the sanctions road. The president's efforts to stop Iran's nuclear program were irreparably undermined by November's National Intelligence Estimate, whose "moderate confidence" that Iran has not restarted nuclear weaponization has promoted the illusion that Iran has given up the pursuit of nuclear weapons. Uranium enrichment, the most difficult step, proceeds apace, as does the development of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles. The president is going to hand over to his successor an Iran on the verge of going nuclear. This will deeply destabilize the Middle East and threaten the moderate Arabs with Iranian hegemony. As there will be no disarming of Iran by preemption or by sanctions, we shall have to rely on deterrence to prevent the mullahs, some of whom are apocalyptic and messianic, from using nuclear weapons. During the Cold War, when we were dealing with rational actors, we were successful in preventing an attack not only on the U.S. but also on America's allies. We did it by extending the American nuclear umbrella - i.e., declaring that any attack on our allies would be considered an attack on the U.S. We should do the same to keep nuclear peace in the Middle East. An implacable neighboring power has openly declared genocidal intentions against Israel - in clear violation of the UN Charter - and is defying the international community by pursuing the means to carry out that intent. For those who believe that America stands for something in the world, there can be no more pressing cause than preventing the nuclear annihilation of an allied democracy, the last refuge and hope of an ancient people openly threatened with the final Final Solution.
2008-04-11 01:00:00
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