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Attacking Iran is Inevitable A military confrontation with Iran is inevitable. Israel will need to destroy as much of Iran's nuclear weapons capability as possible. If it does not, Iran's ayatollahs will launch nuclear-armed ballistic missiles at Israel.
This isn't conjecture or speculation. The president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has made it clear to the world that Israel is to be "wiped off the map" of the world and, in the first days of its Islamic Revolution, it was American diplomats who were held hostage for 444 days by the Iranians. For the ayatollahs, America is the "Big Satan" and Israel is the "Little Satan." No ambiguity here. No slippery rhetoric to disguise their intentions. Ahmedinijad recently told an Islamic summit in Mecca that an alternative to killing all the Israelis would be to have them all move to Europe! He is not merely certifiably insane, but he is virtually begging for a war with Israel. In a chapter in a new book, "War Footing", the collective thinking of some of the nation's best defense, diplomatic, and intelligence gathering experts, looks at Iran and says, "It is surprising to most terrorism experts that, even after four years of a global war on terror, there has yet to be any serious national debate about the need and the means to confront Iran." When asked how far Israel was prepared to go to protect itself, one of its top military leaders replied, "About two thousand kilometers," the distance between Israel and Iran. Guess who will be refueling those Israeli bombers and fighter jets over Iraq? Guess who will be flying with them? It will be the United States because Iran leaves neither America, nor Israel, any alternative. With a news media beleaguering Americans daily with reports of every casualty in order to sap our national resolve to remain in Iraq long enough to eliminate the threat that emanates from the entire Middle East, Americans are most surely not being reminded that, in the years prior to the attacks of 9-11, "Iran was responsible for the deaths of more than fifteen hundred Americans-more than any other state sponsor of terror or terrorist organization in history." A U.S. National Intelligence Estimate on Iran, leaked to the media in August 2005 stated that Iran is unlikely to produce the fissile material it needs for a nuclear weapon until "early to mid-next decade." Bear in mind the intelligence community has been taking a beating over its estimates of WMDs and other reasons to invade Iraq. The NIE estimate is probably too cautious. Iran may well be closer to what it needs to make nuclear weapons. What will stop this? A massive bombing campaign to degrade their capacity to make or launch nuclear missiles. Take away their nuclear option, along with their command and control capabilities, and there will be no need to invade. Indeed, with sufficient planning, resistance groups inside Iran could be armed to finish off the relative handful of ayatollahs in charge. Recently, an Iranian opposition group, based in the United States and calling itself the "Iran of Tomorrow Movement" issued a statement calling on Iranians to begin a period of resistance just prior to the next election on June 17 and calling on all governments worldwide to support the resistance. There is momentum gathering among Iranian resistance groups and one can only hope that Iranians, who are mostly young and pro-American, will respond to the call. Iran, however, is a total dictatorship and the risks are literally a matter of life and death. What are the alternatives? "War Footing" offers a number of steps the U.S. and the rest of the world can take. Its authors dismiss any "détente" or negotiated resolution. They recommend such measures as making freedom in Iran a declared U.S. policy; an active effort to delegitimize the Tehran regime, declaring it a threat to humanity; waging economic and political warfare, inside and out of Iran; and supporting resistance movements, among the options available. In the end, the experts conclude that military power may be the only option. I believe this will prove to be the only way to avoid a nuclear Armageddon. We are dealing with religious fanatics who want to bring about the return of the twelfth Imam al-Mahdi. Born 800 years ago, the lunatics running Iran believe that, before he returns, "one third of the world population will die by being killed and one-third will die as a result of epidemics." The ayatollahs of Iran have decided to kill one-third of the "unbelievers" with nuclear weapons. This is Islam's gift to the world, murder on a scale no one can conceive. If they succeed, the world will plunge backward to a time comparable to the Dark Ages. The destruction of Iran's nuclear and other military facilities is a small price to pay to avoid this. Let's do it sooner than later. Given the rise in statements about the manner in which this nation went to war in Iraq or our current military conduct of the conflict there, it is time to review the law that defines sedition. It is found in the U.S. Code, Title 18, Section 2388: Activities affecting armed forces during war. [a] Whoever, when the United States is at war, willfully makes or conveys false reports or false statements with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the military or naval forces of the United Nations or to promote the success of its enemies; or Whoever, when the United States is at war, willfully causes or attempts to cause insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty, in the military forces of the United States, or willfully obstructs the recruiting or enlistment of services of the United States, to the injury of service or the United States, or attempts to do so, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both. [b] If two or more persons conspire to violate subsection [a] of this section and more or more such persons do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy, each of the parties to such conspiracy shall be punished as provided in said subsection of this section [a]. [c] Whoever harbors or conceals any person who he knows, or has reasonable grounds to believe or suspect, has committed, or is about to commit, an offense under this section, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both. [d] This section shall apply within the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction of the United States, and on the high seas, as well as within the United States. One hardly needs to be a lawyer to understand the terms of this definition, so when the chairman of the Democrat Party, Howard Dean, on December 5, during a San Antonio radio interview, said, "The idea that we're going to win this war is an idea that unfortunately is just plain wrong," it could be argued that it goes beyond mere opinion and would appear to be a willful effort to undermine the war effort. I believe Dean's statement promotes the success of our enemies. It aligns the Democrat Party with everyone who opposes the conduct of the conflict with terrorist forces. These forces are part of a non-state organization, al Qaeda, which has declared war on the United States. These forces, both internal to Iraq and coming in from other nations have expressed their opposition to the liberation of that nation and enmity to ours, and are killing our soldiers. Dean's statement is one of many claiming that the overthrow of the Saddam regime and the liberation of Iraq were achieved by a President who lied to the nation. It undermines the morale of our troops in the field. Ken Mehlman, chairman of the Republican National Committee, said in response to Dean, "In predicting that America will lose the war in Iraq, Howard Dean is the latest national Democrat leader to embrace retreat and defeat in the central front in the war on terror." Now, ask yourself if Mehlman's description of Dean's statement does not reflect the definition of sedition as stated in Title 18, Section 2388. Dean's statement came just ten days before Iraqis went to the polls to elect, for the first time ever, a free and independent government to determine the future of their nation. Twice before they have risked their lives to achieve this and none of those elections would have occurred if the United States of America had not determined to liberate them and to wage war against the Islamic Jihad. In a democracy, there is always room for debate, discussion, and disagreement about the conduct of our government, based on the "consent of the governed", but there is also a point at which the governed are expected and, indeed, required to join together in the common defense of our nation. That is what Title 18, Section 2388 addresses. It is unlikely that Howard Dean will be indicted for sedition. It is unlikely that those who oppose military recruiters in schools and on the campuses of our nation's universities and colleges will be indicted for sedition. I suggest, however, based on my reading of the law, that these are, in fact, willful acts of sedition at a time when our military is tasked with the defense of Iraq as it transitions from a dictatorship to a democracy. Nor do I ignore the mission of our troops in Afghanistan and elsewhere around the world. The day is not far off when war with Iran will have to be debated or acted upon in response to a sneak attack on Israel or simply Iran's refusal to not manufacture nuclear warheads and the missiles to deliver them. India and Pakistan have pulled back from the brink of a war that would have killed millions of their citizens, but it is the common opinion of experts that Iran's mullahs will not desist from mass murder. Every day they cry, "Death to America. Death to Israel." Life in America has rebounded from the attack on September 11, 2001 that took the lives of more than 3,000 Americans. Life in America has returned to a normality that belies the fact our nation remains the intended target for more attacks by the Islamofacists. The rising tide of statements like those of Howard Dean and others threatens the United States of America no less than the weapons intended to kill us. The United States of America is in the midst of a war authorized by the U.S. Congress. It has restructured the government with a new Department of Homeland Security and has enacted The United States Patriot Act. These are not idle, cosmetic actions. Thus, actions and statements contrary to the successful conduct of this modern, asymmetrical war constitute sedition. What then is the appropriate punishment? Your vote. The next time you step into the voting booth, you need to ask yourself which political party has demonstrated the moral strength to address this new threat to freedom? I'll give you a hint. It is not the Democrat Party. Every week the Center asks for your donation. The only way for our message to reach the many millions it does every week via the Internet is through your support. If you prefer to send a check, make it payable to The Caruba Organization, 28 West Third Street, Suite 1321, South Orange, NJ 07079. Do it today. Thank you.
©
2006 Alan Caruba. |
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If the Israelis attack, it will be with the assistance and blessing of the U.S. because a nuclear attack on America using innocent-looking merchant ships as launch platforms is a significant fear among counterterrorism experts. Or the U.S. will undertake its own preemptive military operation.