The Iran Threat: Separating Fact From Fiction - Global Public Square Blogs
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But top U.S. military officials and leading analysts say the frightening rhetoric about Iran doesn’t always match the facts.
One of the most alarming claims is that Iran poses an “existential threat” to
Israel. This view has been called into question by top U.S. officials, including the nation’s highest-ranking military officer, General Martin Dempsey.
“I also understand that Israel has national interests that are unique to them. And, of course, they consider Iran to be an existential threat in a way that we have not concluded that Iran is an existential threat,” Dempsey told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria last month.
Neither Washington nor the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog have accused Iran of actually building bombs. U.S. officials say they believe Iran is trying to develop a nuclear capability that could lead to production of a nuclear bomb. Iran’s leaders have called nuclear bombs “un-Islamic” and insist their nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, powering plants to generate electricity. However analysts say the conflicting claims create an atmosphere of uncertainty that serves as a deterrent in a “keep them guessing” defense strategy.
But what if Iran had nukes?
Many U.S officials and analysts say they don’t believe the regime’s leaders are trigger happy.
“I’ve been confronting that question since I commanded Central Command in 2008,” Dempsey told Zakaria. “And we are of the opinion that the Iranian regime is a rational actor.”