What ‘Bomb Iran’ Really Takes by Ralph Peters
MY greatest worry on Iran’s nuclear threat to civilization isn’t the military option. It’s trying that option on the cheap.
If there’s any way to block Tehran’s pursuit of nukes short of warfare, I’m all for it. Maybe yesterday’s dispatch of the No. 3 US diplomat to observe the European Union’s talks with the mullahs about their nukes will work a miracle (don’t hold your breath).
Military strikes must be the last resort. Even a successful attack would panic oil markets, interrupt supplies to an unknown degree and make enemies of the Iranian people for another generation.
But the fanatics in Tehran may leave us no peaceful alternative. In that case, the most disastrous thing we could do would be to launch an economy-model attack.
If forced to strike, we have to do it right. When safe-at-home ideologues bluster, “Just bomb ‘em,” they haven’t a clue how complex this problem is.
…. And one last worry: If we decide we have no choice but to attack, we’re so casualty-averse that our civilian leadership is apt to put critical targets off-limits to spare Iranian lives. We still want to win wars without hurting anybody, by just breaking the other guy’s toys. And that’s never going to happen.
If we have to fight, we have to fight to win.
Take down Iran’s nuke program? I’m damned certain of one thing: If we start this one, we’d better get it right from the first shot.