It is time to act

It's only fair to share...Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Email this to someone
email

Iran is just a heartbeat away from the A-bomb. Last Friday the Daily Telegraph reported Teheran has surreptitiously removed a sufficient amount of uranium from its nuclear production facility in Isfahan to produce six nuclear bombs. Given Iran's already acknowledged uranium enrichment capabilities, the Telegraph's report indicates that the Islamic Republic is now in the late stages of assembling nuclear bombs.

It would be a simple matter for Iran to assemble those bombs without anyone noticing. US spy satellites recently discovered what the US believes are covert nuclear facilities in Iran. The mullocracy has not disclosed these sites to the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency, which is charged with inspecting Iran's nuclear sites.

As to the IAEA, this week it presented its latest report on Teheran's nuclear program to its board members in Vienna. The IAEA's report claimed that Iran has taken steps to enable its Shihab-3 ballistic missiles to carry nuclear warheads. With their range of 1,300 kilometers, Shihab-3 missiles are capable of reaching Israel and other countries throughout the region.

In support of its swiftly progressing nuclear program, Iran has escalated both its conventional military and terroristic adventurism. It has also ratcheted up its diplomatic assault on the US. This week, Teheran conducted a countrywide air defense exercise. Gen. Khatim al-Anbiaa, the commander of Iran's Air Defense Corps, explained that the exercise was aimed at defending against both electronic jamming systems and actual bombing strikes.

Also this week, Yahya Rahim Safavi, the former commander of the Revolutionary Guards Corps and current senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for security affairs, announced that Iran has shifted responsibility for naval warfare on the Persian Gulf from its regular naval forces to its more fanatical Revolutionary Guards. The Iranian navy will now be deployed only in the Gulf of Oman and along the Caspian Sea.

The deployment of the Guards along the Persian Gulf means that the force will be responsible for naval operations in the narrow Strait of Hormuz, through which 40 percent of global oil shipments travel. Issuing Iran's most explicit threat to US naval forces in the area and global oil shipments to date, Safavi declared, "The entire Strait of Hormuz is under the tight control of the Iranian security forces, which are ready to defend Iran against any threat."

As for terror, al-Qaida boss Ayman Zawahiri's recent tirade against the Islamic Republic notwithstanding, Iran has apparently intensified its cooperation with al-Qaida. Over the past two weeks, Israeli counterterror officials have issued explicit warnings to Israeli vacationers to immediately depart from Sinai. They have stated that terror cells from al-Qaida and Hamas are working with Iran's Hizbullah to abduct groups of Israeli vacationers to Gaza. Moreover, as Hamas and Teheran have openly acknowledged their "brotherly" ties, more and more reports have been published about al-Qaida's escalating presence in Gaza.

Beyond all this, both regionally and globally Iran is escalating its diplomatic and strategic offensive against the US. It has widened its diplomatic operations in the Western hemisphere from Venezuela, Cuba, Ecuador and Nicaragua to the Caribbean by opening diplomatic relations with Grenada and St. Vincent, and it is pursuing diplomatic ties with Jamaica.

Teheran has initiated its own pro-Russian diplomatic initiative to "stabilize" the Caucasus. This week Iran's Foreign Minister Manoucher Mottaki caught the US State Department by surprise when he arrived in Tblisi to meet with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. That meeting was part of a regional tour that took Mouttaki to Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as Germany.

Finally, of course, there is Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's annual trip to New York for the UN's General Assembly opening session next week. Aside from being honored by leaders of the supposedly pacifist and clearly anti-Semitic Quaker and Mennonite churches, Ahmadinejad will be feted by newly elected General Assembly President Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann from Nicaragua.

COUNTERING TEHERAN'S sprint to the nuclear finish line and its intensifying threats against Israel and the West are three Western initiatives to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

First, the US, France and Britain have stepped up their rhetoric calling for additional economic sanctions against Iran. During the General Assembly meeting in New York, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is scheduled to meet her counterparts from the other permanent members of the Security Council and Germany to try to agree on such sanctions. But this will be an exercise in futility.

Russia has made clear that it will reject any further sanctions. Indeed it is intensifying its military and financial ties to Teheran. Moscow has pledged to have the Bushehr nuclear plant up and running by the end of the year. And Iran is already suspected of diverting plutonium from the plant to develop still more nuclear weapons.

Germany, too, has evinced no interest in curtailing its financial ties to Teheran. To the contrary, German trade with Iran expanded 12% in the last year, from $2.7 billion to $3b.

So the US will fail to pass additional sanctions against Iran in the UN Security Council. And this is a shame. But even if a miracle occurred and Russia, China and Germany agreed to adopt and enforce stiff sanctions against Iran, those sanctions would come too late to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

The uranium that the Iranians took from their Isfahan plant will be weapons grade and attached to Shihab-3 missiles or transferred to Hizbullah, al-Qaida or Hamas terrorists for use long before such hypothetical sanctions would even be noticed.

The second way that the West – and particularly the US and Israel – have sought to stymie Iran's nuclear ambitions is through sabotage. As Yediot Aharonot reporter Ronen Bergman documented in his book, The Secret War with Iran, over the past few years the Mossad and US intelligence agencies have had some success killing personnel involved in Iran's nuclear weapons program. They have also managed to sell faulty nuclear components to Teheran that have slowed down and sabotaged its operations. As the assassination of Iran's terror master Imad Mughniyah in Damascus in February demonstrated, Israel has the capacity to carry out sensitive covert operations deep inside enemy territory. And more successful covert operations could no doubt cause still more damage to Iran's nuclear program.

But it is all but impossible to see how any such operations can prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons in the short term. With that uranium from Isfahan hidden away in one of its covert facilities, with terror operatives deployed all over the globe and in charge of Lebanon and Gaza, and with the Shihab-3 missiles happily accepting nuclear warheads, it is apparent that no matter how bold, limited covert operations have not and will not prevent Iran from crossing the nuclear threshold.

Finally, there are the private initiatives to use international law, capital markets and political pressure to deter Teheran from acquiring nuclear weapons and to persuade states not to cultivate ties with Iran.

A year ago, The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs began a push to indict Ahmadinejad as a war criminal for his breach of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. His calls for Israel's annihilation make him guilty of the explicit crime of inciting genocide. The JCPA's initiative has fomented similar calls by groups in Canada and Australia and, most recently, by tens of thousands of evangelical Christians.

The Anti-Defamation League and AIPAC are waging public campaigns against European oil and gas companies that are involved in deve
loping Iran's oil and gas fields.

The Center for Security Policy in Washington spearheaded the initiative to divest US public employee pension funds from companies that do business with Iran and other state sponsors of terror.

Several major American Jewish organizations are organizing a massive protest outside UN headquarters that will take place during Ahmadinejad's address to the body next Tuesday. Other groups, like the Israel Project, conduct intensive briefings for the media in the US and Europe to educate reporters and editors about the Iranian nuclear program.

All of these private initiatives are vital for raising public awareness in the West about the lethality of the Iranian threat to Israel and to global security in general. They are also important for embarrassing governments – particularly Germany, Austria and other European governments with histories of anti-Semitic violence – that refuse to end their bilateral trade with Teheran. Beyond that, they serve the important goal of weakening the Iranian economy.

But again, none of these programs can do a thing against that uranium for six bombs that Iran removed from its plant in Isfahan. They can't stop those centrifuges in Natanz and in covert facilities throughout Iran from buzzing along. They can't destroy those Shihab-3 missiles. They can't kill the scientists assembling the bombs.

IN LIGHT of Iran's unrelenting and rapid progress toward the nuclear finish line, it is clear today that while positive in their own rights, none of the actions the West is taking will succeed in blocking its path to the atomic bomb.

For that matter, the one option short of war that might have put an end to the mullahs' race to the bomb three years ago – namely supporting the Iranian people in their wish to overthrow their regime – cannot be adopted fast enough to prevent the likes of Khamenei and Ahmadinejad from pushing the button now.

Today, there is only one way to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Israel must bomb Iran's nuclear installations. Such a strike will not end Iran's nuclear program. It will not overthrow the regime. It will not cripple Iran's economy. It will not end Iran's active support for international terrorist groups.

All an Israeli air strike against Iran's nuclear facilities will do is set its nuclear program back for a couple of years. Such a strike will buy Israel and the rest of the world time. And during that time, Iran will no doubt expand its diplomatic, terror and political offensives against Israel and the US. But if Israel and the US are wise, they can use the time as well.

If Israel and the US are wise, they will use the extra time to ratchet up international economic sanctions on Iran. They will use the time to conduct covert operations against nuclear and regime targets. They will use the time to increase international pressure on countries that do business with Iran and sell it arms. And they will use the time that an Israeli military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities will buy to support Iranian democracy movements and so weaken the regime and perhaps eventually topple it.

It is clear today that the Bush administration will not take action against Iran. This week five former secretaries of state said that the US should pursue diplomatic ties with Teheran regardless of Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons. There will be no will in Washington to act against Iran until after Iran has attacked Israel with nuclear weapons.

So it is up to Israel. Too bad we don't have a government in Jerusalem.

Originally published in The Jerusalem Post.

It's only fair to share...Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Email this to someone
email

15 Comments

  • Marcel Cousineau 09/19/2008 at 17:38

    There is only one sure option ,it was written of by the Jewish prophets long ago and it is now coming to pass before the eyes of those not blinded by their false gods and idols which will not save them.
    It is the Armageddon Option which has arrived in our generation.
    There is no good outcome. Caroline assumes that Israel bombing Iran set iran back and give Israel and the world more time.
    THERE IS NO MORE TIME.
    This delusional thinking ignores the reality that Russia,China and Iran’s many other allies will just sit this one out as they did with Afghanistan and Iraq and that the Islamic sleeper cells which have crossed into the U.S unhindered will no do immense,catastrophic damage.
    Already we see a sizable Russian Naval Fleet parked in Syria’s port of Latkia with missiles aimed towards Israel and her IAF jets, ready for that sure day which is almost upon us.
    The only real option for sane Jews and Christians is to stop trusting in corrupt, political fools and return to God and fear Him ,seek His face and hide from His wrath which He is sending upon a wicked,godless,perverted earth.

    Reply
  • Paul, England. 09/19/2008 at 18:07

    A sobering and timely message, Caroline.
    It is frustrating and depressing that the government in Israel has been so weak, inept and foolish and now are in a period of limbo whilst a coalition is sought.
    However, thankfully the fate of Israel is not in the hands of blind and spineless leaders that have blighted Israel recently nor is it in the hands of genocidal maniacs like Ahmadinejad.
    …”Behold, he that keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep”. Psalms 121:4

    Reply
  • Marc Handelsman, USA 09/19/2008 at 18:46

    Iran knows that Israel’s current political situation is unstable. The Iranians know that the US is experiencing economic turmoil, and a possible repeat of the 2000 disputed presidential election. With Israel and America preoccupied, the Persians are exploiting an opportunity to accelerate their covert nuclear program. No amount of sanctions and embargoes will deter Iran from obtaining and deploying nuclear weapons. It has come to the point of no return, and diplomacy won’t stop Iran. An inevitable regional Mid-East war is coming soon. And Israel and America need to wake up.

    Reply
  • Bill K. 09/19/2008 at 19:48

    Just last week the Pentagon approved the sale, to Israel, of 1000 GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs otherwise known as bunker-busting smart bombs. These bombs can be released up to 40 miles from their target and will glide into it with amazing precision. An F-16 can carry several of them. This bomb would be perfect for attacking the Iranian underground nuclear installations.
    The question is, have any restrictions put on their use? Has the Bush Administration had a change in heart about Israel attacking Iran or are these bombs to be used just against Hezbollah tunnels and bunkers in Lebanon?

    Reply
  • pan 09/20/2008 at 1:14

    you should have also said a word about the alliance between Iran and Turkey that’s getting stronger day by day.Recently they signed a memorandum of understanding on maritime cooperation which could have diplomatic,commercial and military significance in the days to come.

    Reply
  • Avi Solomon 09/20/2008 at 3:53

    It is clear that Iran is ganging up full speed for a ‘surprise’ nuclear attack on Tel Aviv. It’s vicious president should be arrested immediately upon arrival in NY.
    Israel will survive, but at what cost? Wake up people!

    Reply
  • W.Lawrence Prabhakar, Ph.D., 09/20/2008 at 6:29

    Thank you Caroline for that very sobre and solid assessment. Israel and the United States have right now weak leaders–leaders whose vision (temporal and spiritual) completely blinded–leaders who excel in appeasing the enemy.
    The only alternative; the most formidable avenue for Israel’s redemption is
    YHWH the Lord God of Israel.
    He has aleady laid out plans for the redemption of Israel. Read the Prophetic Book of Daniel
    “AND AT that time of the end, Michael shall arise, the great angelic prince who defends and has charge of your [Daniel’s] people. And there shall be a time of trouble, straitness, and distress such as never was since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the Book of God’s plan for His own.” (Daniel 12:1; Parallel Bible, KJV/Amplified Bible Commentary)
    Shalom, Lawrence

    Reply
  • Jay 09/20/2008 at 20:48

    Very good article. Caroline, you are one of Ezekiel’s watchmen. These are perilous times, not only with Iran acquiring nuclear weapons, but also as Russia continues to expand its influence in the Middle East. For example, they are expanding their military presence in Syria on a scale not seen since the Cold War. In the meantime, the U.S. is very anemic about all of this and should Barack Obama be elected, an Islamo-Marxist Trojan Horse will be unleashed on America that may lead to the downfall of the U.S. itself. May God bless and keep Obama and Ahmednijad far away from all of us.

    Reply
  • Greg 09/21/2008 at 16:17

    You’re a liar. The IAEA has proven everything you said wrong. People like you aren’t happy unless you’re killing people.
    Caroline responds: The IAEA has also just announced that there was no nuclear installation in Syria. That the US is lying about the North Korean built, Iranian financed reactor in Syria that the IAF destroyed last September.
    For the past 5 years, Baradei has stated repeatedly that it is more important to prevent Israel or the US from attacking Iran’s nuclear installations than to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. But if you think that he is the credible source for information about issues of life and death, you’re certainly within your rights to believe him. From an Israeli perspective, it would be an act of grave irresponsibility to believe Baradei’s denials.

    Reply
  • Timothy Kriete FOR ISRAEL FOREVER MORE Genesis 12:1-3,Isaiah 62 AMEN 09/22/2008 at 4:23

    AMEN Caroline Glick My Precious Holy Ghost
    Annoited Sister FOR ZION’S SAKE (Esther 4:14 &
    Joel 2:21-32 AMEN). Please Continue To SOUND
    Relentlessly The SHOFAR FOR ZION’S SAKE, AND
    FOR JERUSALEM’S SAKE NEVER EVER BE SILENT AMEN.
    Thank You Bringing Into THE LIGHT What So-Called
    “World Leaders” Have CONTINUED TO PLOT IN THE
    SPIRITUAL DARKNESS OF THE U.N.,E.U. And In Other
    So-Called “Governing Bodies” Of People World
    Wide. The FACT That Shortly After The GAZA
    Surrender To Terrorists That Hate Israel And
    The USA, Israel’s War Hero Ariel Sharon Was
    Surely STRUCK DOWN BY THE LORD, YET REMAINS
    ALIVE BY JEHOVAH EL SHADDAI’S GRACE ALONE
    COULD VERY WELL BE THAT THE LORD OF GLORY
    WANTS To Miraculously HEAL Ariel Sharon (WHICH
    WOULD THRILL ME TO NO END, I LOVE ISRAEL AND ALL
    HER PEOPLE WORLD WIDE WITH AN EVER-LASTING LOVE)
    And THEN The LORD Can Bless Ariel Sharon And
    ISRAEL GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE By Allowing Ariel
    Sharon To Witness FIRST HAND What He Set In
    Motion By Caving In To The WORLD’s Pressure.
    I TRULY BELIEVE THE LORD HAS JUDGED, AND SHALL
    CONTINUE TO JUDGE VERY HARSHLY, ALL NATIONS
    INCLUDING MY BELOVED USA, WHOM STICK THEIR
    NOSES IN ISRAEL’S BUSINESS, BOO IF YOU WANT!!!
    ALL Nations Are Called Upon To LOVE AND UN-
    CONDITIONALLY SUPPORT ISRAEL AND HER PRECIOUS
    PEOPLE Because The WORD Of God Declares US ALL
    To Do So,GENESIS 12:1-3 IS A NO BRAINER FOLKS
    THE SAME IS TRUE OF ISAIAH 62 AMEN! The Truth
    And FACT Remains This: Ariel Sharon Is NOT Yet
    DEAD Shows The LORD’s Mercy Upon HIM Despite His
    Mistakes, I Told People A Few Years Ago, And Got
    CALLED EVERYTHING AWFUL A PERSON COULD SAY BY
    BOTH MEN AND WOMEN, THAT “ARIEL SHARON SHALL
    SURELY LIVE TO SEE FOR HIMSELF THE FRUIT OF HIS
    MISTAKES, AND SHALL REPENT PUBLICLY AND SERVE
    JEHOVAH EL SHADDAI IN GOD’S PERFECT TIMING
    AMEN.” Every Person Running For Any Office In
    Any Nation Is Frankly NOT The Sweat Off Of Ariel
    Sharon’s Behind, NOR ARE THEY THE SWEAT OFF
    SHULA COHEN’S BEHIND EITHER, I STAND BY THIS”
    We ALL Make Mistakes, We ALL Have Sinned And
    Fallen Short Of The SHAKINA GLORY OF THE LORD
    AMEN. Even The Precious Gold Meir Made Mistakes
    But The LORD Gave Her Favor With A Person In A
    Position Of Authority Whom Could And DID HELP
    ISRAEL DURING THE 1973 YOM KIPPUR WAR, AMEN???
    STAY STRONG SIS, AND KEEP ON DOING WHAT YOU DO
    SOO VERY VERY VERY WELL FOR ZION’S SAKE AMEN 🙂

    Reply
  • Leaky M. 09/22/2008 at 10:44

    We better remove our ego for the sake of our children. No nation is the greatest in such a scenario. You will be suprised God doesn’t work with nations to redeem Israel(JUST LIKE IN THE BIBLE) but spiritually inspired and gifted men and women who can discern and act, of course first with prayers to Adonai then……

    Reply
  • Dsmith 09/22/2008 at 14:35

    Bloggers would you please, I’m begging you, please stop using 5000 year old biblical text to address the political environment of 2008…it really is annoying.
    As for all of the hysterical, “If Iran is not bombed…Israel is doomed” bullshit, I say…We’ve seen and heard it all before! Remember in 2002 all of the evedince about yellow cake…aluminum tubes…and Iraq’s nuclear program? These same warmongers said, “We don’t want to wait until we see a mushroom cloud.” Not this time.
    If Ms. Glick and her fellow Israeli neocons want to bomb Iran. Have at it! Only this time have your sons and daughters sign up to serve in the military. This time you share in the heartbreak of getting the knock on the door. You watch your sons and daughters come home with all facial features burned away.Not like last time where warmonger Richard Perle set up an investment group to take advantage of Haliburton’s meteroric rise in value.
    You want war. Let Israel do the fighting…or are they “Shackled Warriors” as Ms. Glick so laughingly refers to them?

    Reply
  • marcel cousineau 09/22/2008 at 14:47

    It’s not hard to see the next chapter in this book after Israel deals with Iran and her other neighbors who seek to exterminate them.
    I call it the Greg effect.
    Israel will be blamed for everything bad that happens.
    Don’t worry ,it’s all part of God’s plan to lure the nation’s to form a coalition of the willing to come against Israel so He can personally destroy them.
    It’s amazing to see all of this falling into place in our day.
    By the time the God of Israel is done,Israel will not have even one enemy left on the earth and will become the head of the nations,no longer the muchabused tail of the nations.

    Reply
  • Jay Di Napoli 09/23/2008 at 3:52

    Caroline,
    Your analysis in this article makes perfect sense and your facts are undeniable. Recently, Fox News stated that next month the U.S. will be at increased risk for a major terrorist attack. I believe that the U.S. is at risk for such an attack because she has abandoned the Israeli people during a critical time of need.
    Here are some questions that the Israeli government should be asking the U.S. as the Iran continues to build their nuclear arsenal.
    Where was the U.S. when Russia and Iran formed an alliance to wipe Israel off the map?
    Where is President Bush and the U.S. Congress as Israel currently faces a second holocaust?
    Where are they? Nowhere to be found…
    This week was a major win for Iran on the diplomatic front with Sarah Palin being dis-invited from an anti-Ahmadinejad rally. I can’t believe that America would be willing to sell out a loyal friend…and under a Republican president. What would Israel face under an antisemitic, Democratic president. It’s times like this that make me be ashamed to be an American. I’m also ashamed of a liberal, secular Jewish community worldwide that is oblivious to the threats rising to Israel, America, and the West and would choose to make peace with the evildoers who would seek to destroy them. May God have mercy on us all.

    Reply
  • charlie 10/01/2008 at 0:38

    I am a republican, conservative christian. Can anyone here explain why so many in the the American jewish community support liberal canidates and causes? They support limiting our rights to own arms, they wish to limit our military, keep ROTC out of college campusus, embrace terrorists like the ones supporting Obama? Jewish comedians and late night talk show hosts that “support Israel” do all they can to weaken American resolve by ridiculing conservative politicians. It was Richard Nixon that airlifted tons of military hardware to Israel when Israel was about to be defeated in a sneak attack. There are other events but i would like to hear your comments.

    Reply

Leave a Comment