In reading some of my old blog entries, I came across this, from October 2004:
In today's Wall Street Journal, Daniel Henninger writes,
Just this week in an interview with Fox’s Bill O’Reilly, Mr. Bush said about Iran’s bomb program, “We’ve made it clear, our position is that they won’t have a nuclear weapon.” Diplomacy, he said, was the first option, but “all options are on the table.”
The Democrats? The Kerry campaign’s published statement on Iran proposes “a global effort” which would buy back Iran’s spent nuclear fuel. “If Iran does not accept this offer, their true motivations will be clear.” He then would “push” the IAEA to “to discern the full extent of Iran’s nuclear program.” And then the statement’s final sentence: “If this process fails, we must lead the effort to ensure that the IAEA takes this issue to the Security Council for action.”
And after that, what?
If there is nothing else that you understand about the times that we live in, I pray that it is this: we are fighting an enemy that cannot be negotiated with, reasoned with, appeased, pacified by promises of "summits", or subdued by world opinion.
We know how effective the UN and the IAEA were at preventing North Korea from developing nuclear weapons. Does anyone with half a wit really think that somehow, magically, the UN will reverse a 50 year record of failure and inaction and suddenly stop Iran from building a bomb?
The choice between policy of vigilance and pre-emption vs. the policy of negotiation and appeasement is a clear one for me. I hope it is for the rest of the country as well.
Every word is still true.
Meanwhile, Michelle Malkin notes a writeup by Melanie Phillips at Real Clear Politics, who believes that the Danish cartoon riots were in part orchestrated by Iran in order to intimidate Denmark, who will be taking over the chairmanship of the UN Security Council.
And how is Iran's nuclear program going? Let's see ...
Iran has begun restricting U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency inspections of its nuclear program and wants seals and surveillance cameras removed from key sites by midmonth, a confidential IAEA report said Monday.
The Iranian decision will drastically inhibit the most effective international mechanism for monitoring Iran's work on uranium enrichment and ensuring that it's used only for producing fuel for power plants and not for nuclear weapons.
Moreover, it will be much more difficult for the IAEA to answer crucial questions about the Iranian program, including whether it purchased a blueprint for a nuclear warhead from a Pakistani-led black-market smuggling ring.
"This is Iran escalating," said David Albright, a former IAEA inspector who directs the Institute for Science and International Security, an independent research center that closely tracks the Iranian nuclear program.
Escalating? Really?
And don't miss this chilling commentary from The Washington Times' Arnaud de Borchgrave: Later Than We Think
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Shi'ite creed has convinced him lesser mortals can not only influence but hasten the awaited return of the 12th Imam, known as the Mahdi. Iran's dominant "Twelver" sect holds this will be Muhammad ibn Hasan, the righteous descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. He is said to have gone into "occlusion" in the 9th century, at age 5. His return will be preceded by cosmic chaos, war, bloodshed and pestilence. After this cataclysmic confrontation between the forces of good and evil, the Mahdi will lead the world to an era of universal peace.
"The ultimate promise of all Divine religions," says Ahmadinejad, "will be fulfilled with the emergence of a perfect human being [the 12th Imam], who is heir to all prophets. He will lead the world to justice and absolute peace. Oh mighty Lord, I pray to you to hasten the emergence of your last repository, the promised one." He reckons the return of the Imam, AWOL for 11 centuries, is only two years away.
Mr. Ahmadinejad is close to the messianic Hojjatieh Society, which is governed by the conviction the 12th Imam's return will be hastened by "the creation of chaos on Earth." He has fired Iran's most experienced diplomats and scores of other officials, presumably those who don't share his belief in apocalyptic conflagration.
The Iranian leader's finger on a nuclear trigger would be disquieting under any circumstances. Positively alarming would be a nuclear weapon in the hands of a man who badgers Israel, the U.S. and the European Union in belief a pre-emptive aerial attack on Iran's nuclear facilities will hasten the return of the missing Mahdi. Such an attack presumably would trigger anti-Western mayhem throughout the Middle East.
As if that isn't already happening. Read the whole thing.
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