by Kathy

This is an interesting article on comments made by the former CENTCOM commander; General John Abizaid. He believes that it is possible to for the world community to live with a nuclear Iran. He does believe that every effort should be made to deny Iran a nuclear weapon. Excerpts from AP:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Every effort should be made to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, but failing that, the world could live with a nuclear-armed regime in Tehran, a recently retired commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East said Monday.

John Abizaid, the retired Army general who headed Central Command for nearly four years, said he was confident that if Iran gained nuclear arms, the United States could deter it from using them.

“Iran is not a suicide nation,” he said. “I mean, they may have some people in charge that don’t appear to be rational, but I doubt that the Iranians intend to attack us with a nuclear weapon.”

The obvious followup question here should have been “Do you believe a nuclear attack against Israel by Iran is possible?” This question should have then been immediately followed with “Do you believe Israel is willing to take a chance on peaceful co-existence with a Nuclear Iran?”

“There are ways to live with a nuclear Iran,” Abizaid said in remarks at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank. “Let’s face it, we lived with a nuclear Soviet Union, we’ve lived with a nuclear China, and we’re living with (other) nuclear powers as well.”

The difference with Iran from these other nations is their motivation is driven by religion not political ideology. I am not sure looking to these other countries as examples provides the best guidance in how to handle a nuclear Iran.

If we allow Iran to go nuclear then the onus falls United States to keep Iran in check.

“I believe the United States, with our great military power, can contain Iran – that the United States can deliver clear messages to the Iranians that makes it clear to them that while they may develop one or two nuclear weapons they’ll never be able to compete with us in our true military might and power,” he said.He described Iran’s government as reckless, with ambitions to dominate the Middle East.

“We need to press the international community as hard as we possibly can, and the Iranians, to cease and desist on the development of a nuclear weapon and we should not preclude any option that we may have to deal with it,” he said. He then added his remark about finding ways to live with a nuclear-armed Iran.

I do agree with the General that Iran is a reckless nation and that our military is the best in the world and that indeed we could deal effectively with Iran if necessary. However; I do have difficulty with the belief that Iran will, because of the presence of the United States, be deterred from using it’s weapons to achieve its goals. Iran has not been deterred from completing its Nuclear program in spite of multiple United Nations resolutions and sanctions. It is actively meddling in the the war in Iraq and is in fact suppling weapons to Shia militias to be used against our troops. Iran has hosted a conference whose sole purpose is to prove the the Holocaust never happened.

The problem I have with these remarks is that it totally leaves Israel out of the picture. This article mentions that Iran refers to the United States as “Big Satan” but fails to mention that Israel is known as “Little Satan”. I agree that Iran would never seriously consider attacking the United States but I also believe that given the slightest opportunity it will, or by proxy, attack Israel. If Israel were to be attacked by Iran, what would be the United States’ response?