Brooklyn Bridge 4 Sale: Gates says Iran won't have nukes for 'at least' one year

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.