Attack On Iran? Hidden Budgets And Bombs

November 3, 2007

I happened across a post on The Gathering Storm blog which pointed me to an excellent article on NewsMax. The article makes some good points about funding requests by the Bush administration for retrofitting B-2 Stealths to carry 30,000 lb. bunker buster bombs.

Perhaps Department of Defense is planning to spend $88 million to outfit Stealth bombers to fly missions over Afghanistan or Iraq? Uhm, no. I agree with all analysis that points to Iran, though I can also imagine two other legitimate targets.

One would be a nuclear Pakistan falling into the hands of Islamists, which is a plausible possibility.

Speaking of bombers…with Russian bombers starting up their old Cold War era strategic flights, the Danish , Norwegian and British and American air forces are all on their toes. I wonder how long it will be before there is an incident?

Entry Filed under: Denmark, Global, Iran, Opinion, Political, Politics, Psychology, Security, Tactics, War. .

4 Comments Add your own

1. micah s | November 3, 2007 at 5:48 pm

I agree, that request screams of intentions, what other nation state has ‘bunkers’ with ’stuff that needs to be destroyed’. I think your other two options are valid also, but you must mention the united states putting missile defense systems all along russia’s borders. I think we are acting in a way to provoke them, and putin has said they feel threatened with our actions. Good post maine!
2. Danielle | November 3, 2007 at 10:20 pm

I fear it won’t be too long if we continue to allow this to continue.

Wishing you well.
3. Sean Wilson | November 4, 2007 at 1:58 am

Thanks for dropping by to read and share your thoughts.

Micah—there’s an interesting point that you bring up about provocation. If we do bomb Iran and destroy their nascent capability as it is emerging, do we then need the radar stations and missile shields that are worrying Russia? I would think not on the face of it, but there is mounting evidence that Syria is trying to start their own clandestine nuke program as well.

Certainly, missile defense systems would tilt the field in favor of the EU and America, so yes, it is understandable that Russia is worried. Putin is ensuring Russia becomes more threatening to the West with each passing month however. Joint military exercises with China doesn’t help.

Danielle—I fear you are right. It won’t be long now. I have my reservations about the course that lies before us, whether we attack or not. Everything I have learned about politics and warfare suggest, however, that the dangers and costs of waiting until after they are nuclear capable will be greater; history and the situation demands a preventive attack/war. That’s quite different from a preemptive strike or war, which is generally accepted worldwide as a sovereign nation’s right.

The difference is that preemption is attacking first when an attack by your enemy is expected and known to be coming. It is the simple principle that if I see you going for a gun, I don’t need (and shouldn’t unless I’m a fool) to wait until you have shot at me to strike or shoot you first.

Preventive warfare is aimed at preventing a situation from developing. Its legitimacy is ethically questionable and each circumstance is different. The question is three-fold: is Iran actually developing nukes; will they be a threat to the US if they do; do we attack a nation on the assumption that the answer to first two questions is yes?

Certainly, Iran will be a threat if they get their foot in the nuclear capable door and develop ICBM’s. Will they attack us? With fanatics in charge there is that possibility. More likely is that they can or would attack allies or our security interests in the region.

Of a certainty, they will start an arms race that will be even harder to do something about as other Middle Eastern states race to acquire nuclear capabilities to protect themselves. Even if other Middle Eastern nations simply invite allies to station anti-missile missiles in their countries to provide defense, tensions will remain higher. And, of course, Iran’s official government policy is the avowed destruction of Israel—an ally of the US and many European nations.

Given that Iran is creating havoc in Iraq and funding/training terrorists there and in the Palestinian territories, Lebanon and Syria, there is more reason to attack them than not—from a strategic standpoint. And, an attack need not be all out war, nor even an invasion. We can go in and destroy their program and then leave it up to Iran if they want to take it to all-out war. Tactical strikes give us an option short of total war that still allows us to avoid a nuclear apocalypse—which is the likely result of a radical Islamic nation that has been a state sponsor of terrorism for decades becoming a nuclear power.

Pray for peace; prepare for war.

Thanks for stopping by and the kind wishes. Luck and best wishes to you both.
4. r chemist | April 17, 2008 at 7:34 pm

There are some problems with your statements. There is thin proof at best that Iran is meddling in Iraq, and even if they were, what gives us the right to? The war on Iraq did not turn up the kind of threats that were asserted. Credibility about U.S intelligence is in question, especially when the bush administration refuses to believe the NIE from all of our security agencies.

I think you are overlooking consequences from tactical strikes. Iran has threatened to defend itself if attacked, tactical strikes would endanger Israel I think, as well as our troops in Iraq.

You also make claims about Iran starting arms races, seriously? Do you read about the military and monetary aid we supply to our dictators in the middle east? We fuel arms races unequivocally.

I think we need to finish up our first two wars before we even dream about attacking another country. And then, not without sufficient, real evidence of a threat.

Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed