Thursday, August 7, 2014

A Time to Attack by; Matthew Kroenig

The Looming Iranian Nuclear Threat This is a new book published in 2014 and is totally up to date on the ongoing situation between the United States and Iran. As you may be aware Iran has suffered greatly by sanctions imposed by many major countries led by the U.S. A little history will be helpful at this point. The issue of Iran having nuclear armament has been in the forefront for decades. There has been a worldwide effort to prevent other countries from joining with those who already possess them. On December 8, 1953 President Eisenhower announced a new program for nations who did not possess nuclear technology. It was called “Atoms for Peace”. It was believed that nuclear power used to produce electricity would be a boon to the world. The success of that idea has not yet been realized as hoped for many reasons. That is a subject for another time. Iran was one country enthusiastic to partake and did. They were considered an ally at that time. On July1, 1968 Iran signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) Things changed for the worse after the 1979 revolution which toppled the Shaw and put in place a Shia Muslim government which adhered to strict religious doctrines. President George W. Bush didn’t help much when in his 2002 State of the Union address to Congress he stated that IRAN was a part of the Axis of Evil along with N. Korea and IRAQ. N. Korea immediately threw out the International inspectors and IRAQ was conquered shortly thereafter. The Iranian leaders recognized that once nuclear weapons are attained that a new relationship is established, it is no wonder that IRAN tried its best to reach that goal. Under the auspices of the United Nations a group was formed in 2006 called P5+1. It consisted of the five nuclear powers i.e.: United States, Russia, England, France and China plus Germany. Their goal was to keep IRAN from attaining nuclear weapons. Over the years to follow proposals were presented and rejected. Finally in 2010 the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) voted to demand a halt to all enrichment activity and levied severe economic sanctions. The sanctions created havoc with their economy with IRAN finally came to an interim understanding. At the beginning of 2014 a six month agreement was agreed to. Sanctions were reduced, inspectors were allowed access to their facilities and they pledged to stop the enrichment process. At the six month date it was agreed to extend for another six months. This brings us to decision time. After providing all options the author takes the unequivocal stance that time is up. With Iran so close they could achieve their goal within two or three months and after that a whole new situation would come about dangerous to the entire world. His recommendation is for a limited strike only targeting the nuclear facilities. This would require the 30,000 pound bomb developed for this purpose. With some sections buried 295ft. underground it would take two or three accurate placements to destroy. Should IRAN retaliate then our response should be determined by the extent of that response. If necessary then their entire military force could be destroyed. There should be no repeat of boots on the ground. The Navy and Air Force could do the job. As in the IRAQ war we would try to keep Israel from participating and drawing fire on that country. It should be understood that should we not do the job in time that Israel will do whatever they can to retard if not stop the progress. After reading and thinking about current events I would like to add my thoughts. IRAN is the major supplier of rockets not only to Hamas but also Hezbollah. They also supply other arms as well as fighters to assist terrorist groups. I have read there are over 10,000 rockets in Southern Lebanon and Hamas still has 6,000. What if the current conflict between Israel and Hamas is just a distraction to keep everyone occupied on this rather than IRAN obtaining the bomb? I am sure that if Israel goes it alone to retard the development of the bomb that all of these rockets will rain on Israel together with longer range missiles that IRAN possesses. This could be tragic to the people living in Israel which includes one and one half million Muslims. The clock is ticking. Quite frankly I don’t have faith that our current President will act in time. What do you think? I found this book at the Public Library. I urge you to read. Jack B. Walters August 7, 2014

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