Iran is the biggest threat to the United States and its allies in the Middle East, surpassing al Qaeda, which is down but not out, a senior military official said on Friday.Of course, the top threat from Iran is from it's nuclear program--and the threat that Iran is after nuclear arms:
"The biggest threat to the United States and to our interests and to our friends, I might add, has come into focus and it's Iran," said the official, addressing a forum in Washington.
Next week, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations nuclear watchdog, is expected to release a report that includes evidence of Iranian nuclear research which makes little sense if not weapons related, Western diplomats said.But there is more to Iran than that.
How about the threat of Iranian missiles based in Venezuela:
Iran is planning to place medium-range missiles on Venezuelan soil, based on western information sources, according to an article in the German daily, Die Welt, of November 25, 2010. According to the article, an agreement between the two countries was signed during the last visit o Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to Tehran on October19, 2010. The previously undisclosed contract provides for the establishment of a jointly operated military base in Venezuela, and the joint development of ground-to-ground missiles.An article last year on Hudson New York compared the situation to the crisis that Kennedy faced back in 1962--and found Obama's response to be the exact opposite:
Nowadays, however, we do not see the same firmness from the present administration. On the contrary, we see a lax attitude, both in language and in deeds, that results in extending hands when our adversaries have no intention of shaking hands with us. Iran is soon going to have a nuclear weapon, and there are no signs that UN sanctions will in any way deter the Ayatollah's regime from completing its nuclear program. We know that Iran already has missiles that can carry an atomic warhead over Israel and over the Arabian Peninsula. Now we learn that Iran is planning to build a missile base close to the US borders. How longer do we have to wait before the Obama administration begins to understand threats?It could be that now the Obama administration if finally coming to its senses.
The problem is that Russian and China in the UN Security Council are not going to make things easy.
And the more tangible the threat, the more pressure Obama will feel to have something to show he can handle the situation--before the elections.
At least now Obama and Netanyahu will have something to talk about next time he visits the US.
Technorati Tag: Iran.
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