Time to take Iran’s nuclear program out

How much longer will the world dawdle? Just this week, a leaked memo from Iran’s Ministry of Defense, uncovered by the Times of London, laid out in clear terms the problems the Iranians have with their current nuclear pursuits. It seems they can’t find a way to trigger a nuclear device. Hello!?!? Is anyone paying attention? Just last week, the Iranians launched yet another missile in a series of military tests, and it’s been less than a month since the Iranian leadership indicated it wanted to build five to 10 new nuclear reactors.

Add to this growing body of evidence the geopolitical fact that Iran is at its most fragile point in its 30-year history. These folks are certifiably unstable. They have a very big gun, and they’re dying to use it, if they could only find a way to trigger the damned thing.

If ever there was a failure in foreign leadership for this president and indeed the world, it’s clearly evident in the case of Iran. How much more evidence do these people need? How many more pathetic and mind-numbing tours by some sheepish international agency (IAEA) are necessary before we take this program out?

I freely admit I’m no expert on Iran, nor a guru on Middle Eastern affairs. But I sure can read the writing when it’s scrawled on the international wall — the Iranians want more than peaceful, domestic production of nuclear energy. They want a weapon. If I want help building a fire in my basement stove, I don’t go buy bullets and pilfer the gunpowder to spark the flame.

What if we’re wrong and we needlessly bomb these facilities? Who cares?! The Iranians have scoffed at the international community on multiple levels and multiple times. They’ve had their chance at diplomatic resolution. Every step they take now is an aggressive act. Period. There’s no other way to view their actions, and they certainly aren’t going out of their way to explain the buildup any differently.

I hope this White House knows what it’s doing on this front. It’s not like the world can afford to wait for a first strike before we get serious with a country bent on amassing the most dangerous killing machine the world has ever known. This whole episode makes former President George W. Bush’s “axis of evil” comments look almost Wilsonian …

Williams can be heard nightly on Sirius/XM Power 169 from 9 to 10 p.m. EST.

Visit www.armstrongwilliams.com.