Ghost of a flea: The gripping hand

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July 07, 2008

The gripping hand

The Pentagon is supposedly worried Israel does not have an adequate idea where Iran's nuclear weapons production facilities are located. Allahpundit comments.

Either you think we know the extent of Iran’s program and can time our response accordingly or you don’t think we know, in which case we have to err on the side of caution by assuming the worst and acting sooner. How can anti-war types maintain both positions simultaneously? Simple — because they’re willing to let Iran have the bomb in order to avoid another war. That’s been their position all along but they can’t push it in those terms or else they’ll be seen, rightly, as weak and it’ll wreck the Democrats’ chances yet again.

The argument against taking military action against Iran hold that attacking with either have too little effect or make things worse by spurring nuclear weapons development as a "deterrent" to supposed Western aggression. I have another alternative to point out: Israel's options are not limited to conventional military action. An argument that targeting Persian nuclear sites with conventional weapons with be unsuccessful is not an argument for inaction, it is an argument for a full scale nuclear attack on Iran.

Posted by Ghost of a flea at July 7, 2008 06:47 AM

Comments

I continue to wonder why anyone would imagine it desirable to attack the nuclear facilities, or why airplanes might be necessary (as opposed to useful, if they can be gotten in).

Centrifuges require a lot of electrical power. A few bombs on the tanker terminals, refineries, and pipeline nexuses would turn out the lights in short order. Of course it would mean we'd be paying $3 a liter for gas, but why would the Israelis give a damn about that?

Regards,
Ric

Posted by: Ric Locke at July 7, 2008 04:06 PM