Phew! We can all rest easy now. Finally, a night’s sleep without overdosing on Ambien and Courvoisier. Sec Def Gates has told some reporters that “Iran is not expected to be capable of producing nuclear weapons for at least a year.”
Now I know what you’re thinking: How the Hell does he know? After all, it wasn’t all that long ago that our clever intelligence agencies told us Iran had put a stop to its nuclear weapons program altogether (U.S. Says Iran Ended Atomic Arms Work: NYT). But not to worry. That was 2007. We’re smarter now. Never mind that we momentarily over-looked that centrifuge-filled tunnel the size of New Jersey we suddenly realized the Iranians had burrowed in the side of a mountain near Qum. And, yes, they may have others, but only a dozen or so. No more. I’m sure. After all, Secretary Gates assures us they won’t have nukes for more than year. (You know, somewhere between the next the Super Bowl and the NBA playoffs – a long way off.)
But does he know for sure? I mean really. Does he know they haven’t already built dirty bombs that even now are set for delivery to Hamas, Hezbollah or some other Islamowhacko group we have yet to hear of… until the day a shopping mall in Minneapolis turns into Yucca Flats? Obviously, not. How could he? None of us do. The Defense Secretary was lying to us, or himself, or both. But why? Wishful thinking? Or to buy time for Obama’s non-existent sanctions program nobody believes will work and few will abide by anyway?
I apologize for trying to be funny, because it’s not. As bad as times may be economically, they could get a lot worse if the nuclear insanity breaks out. But how to stop it? The Obama administration has just held its nuclear summit, which has been hailed as a “step forward.” Oh, good. But what happened? Evidently, not much. And what did was “voluntary.” This is an “as if” administration. Everything is for show, but now even the press is not allowed to see it. The nuclear meeting is only a day over and the reports have dropped off the top of Google news to be replaced, at this hour, by the “important stuff” – Calif. AG Jerry Brown investigating payment to Sarah Palin(…he has launched a “broad investigation” to find out how much a California State University foundation intends to pay Sarah Palin when the ex-Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate speaks at a campus benefit in June.”) Good job, Jerry. America wants to know.
Meanwhile, the centrifuges whirl in Iran. What is to be done about it? Does anybody have a good idea? We could support their democracy movement, but sadly, and to be honest, they appear to be in retreat. One of the most reprehensible things about Obama to me is that he did not support them at their height, but it seems to be too late now.
So maybe it’s not so easy to sleep after all. Not for me anyway. I keep thinking about my excursion to Geneva thirteen months ago when I had the most disturbing encounter of my life with this man.
How long would it take under “waterboarding” to get the truth out of Gates, or is he as pathologically deranged as the group across the river on PA Ave?
Robert Gates is probably placed in an awkward situation. He rightfully senses that President Obama refuses to do anything effective to stop the Iranians. Should he quit in protest? That option, however, may leave something to be desired. Obama is our elected leader until 2012. Elections have consequences—sometime dire ones. Do we have time to wait that long? Does anybody have any suggestion that can be reconciled to the U.S. Constitution?
Iran has announced that it intends to convene its *own* nuclear summit.
What an evil clown show that promises to be!
2. David Thomson. Of course Gates should resign in protest!! So should everyone in the government with any ounce of conscience. That might make a difference in the 2010 congressional elections & that in turn would show Obama which way the wind is blowing. He wants to be reelected just like any other politician.
Obama’s mistake may well turn out to be backing the Israelis into a corner where they feel they have nothing to lose vis-avis Iran. Whether it’s Israel that acts or us or even (wild hope) the French, they need to strike at the head of the serpent. If all they do is merely wound the ayatollocracy, better not to even bother.
Look, I think Iran would love to have nuclear weapons (and don’t really want to spend time defending Robert Gates) but logically speaking his statement is consistent with the assertion that Iran has stopped its nuclear-weapons program. A country that has stopped its nuclear-weapons program will indeed not be building nuclear weapons in the next year, next ten years, or indeed any time period you care to mention. It’s possible that by specifying such a short period of time Gates was in fact trying to create some alarm and suggest that Iran had resumed work on nuclear weapons while technically saying nothing of the sort.
Gates is just a useless pencil-pushing bureaucrat, he’s just following orders like any other ass-kissing bureaucrat, it’s good for his career. Everyone should face the truth, the Obama administration has tacitly accepted a nuclear-armed Iran, stupidly thinking that some idiotic policy of ”containment” will somehow ”manage” a bunch of Islamic crazies. The Obama strategy is to blame Israel for it’s own failures, Israel will be the scapegoat. I can’t know what Netanyahu will do – so far, it looks like Israel will wait until the last minute before making any decision on launching a preemptive military strike.
One thing that may be weighing on Gates’ decision on whether to resign – who would Obama replace him with? Gates is hemmed in since he isn’t the boss. He can drag his heels and try to mitigate the worst of the Obama decisions, but ultimately has to go along with the program. Small victories are the most he can achieve. What if he left and was replaced by someone who enthusiastically pursued the horrid Obama agenda? As bad as they are, things can get worse.
Roger, rest assured Israel will pre-empt. Why? Because we do NOT have the luxury of prevaricating, postulating, equivocating and generally obviating the truth. For our beleagured nation it IS a ‘do or die’ moment. It is THAT simple.
I know which way the (war) winds are blowing, even if the Sec Def doesn’t!! Living here I can ‘smell’ the preparations.
Gates works for Obama. He has a big deal job. It’s rare for so many lackluster people to get such jobs. He knows that.
There’s another one of those “Unexpectedly” headline coming soon.
One of those ‘unintended consequences’ type of headlines to be sure.
Or is it unintended? :\
All of this disgusting horror-show coming from our current ‘enemy-mine administration’ makes me feel seethingly furious and frustratingly impotent to do anything about it at the same time.
My gut tells me that this is NOT going to end well.
I predict that nuclear weapons will be used during the Obama administration somewhere in the world. All of his actions will foment a crisis. As for his “nuclear summit” get together all we get out of it is that we become a nuclear waste dump. We do not even have Yucca Mountain to store all the unwanted nuclear crap other nations don’t have the money of facilities to process.
when the heavyweight champion is poisoned by his trainer and is no longer
fit to fight or defend his honor, then the pretenders preen and strut hoping they will be deemed fit to fight for the title. The power, the prestige, and the treasure will tempt them to strike out in many ways…When the battle mushrooms into something ugly…..the champion thought lost will emerge a gallant knight,and he will earn the respect of the people and regain his proper place in history.. all is well..
Roger, what is scary about Gates is the possibility that he thinks he knows what Iran is doing. We are in deep pu if he doesn’t know that he doesn’t know.
One year, three years, never, next week. The official estimate changes with the need of those in power to influence the press, the public, or their (not our) enemies. The possibility of technocratic government by experts who wisely sift the world for facts has been falsified. There is no neutral expertise. Beware the coming tide.
Just after Obama’s election, I placed a long comment on a number of blogs, outlining the possible consequences of his attitudes towards our friends and allies.
Recent developments, particularly regarding his new policies on use (or not) of nuclear weapons and a “no big deal” attitude towards a nuclear-armed Iran, made me decide to resurrect that comment as the newest post ( On selling out our friends and allies ) on my blog.
I found nothing in it that needed changing.
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