Manufacturing Excuses So Iran Can Get Nukes

by Peter Huessy • September 24, 2014 at 5:00 am

We assume Iran's leaders will abide by the very international rules they are dedicated to destroying.

When we refer to Iranian missiles as a legitimate form of "deterrence," we just fool ourselves into imagining that Iranian missiles, which support aggression, are no different from American and allied missiles, which prevent and deter aggression.

The U.S. has said it would not address Iran's 30-plus years of sponsorship of terror nor is extensive ballistic missile program, even though the U.S. officially designates Iran as the leading state-sponsor of terror in the world.

An Iranian "Khalij Fars" mobile ballistic missile on parade in Iran. (Image source: Wikimedia Commons)

While security threats have been increasingly serious, the United States and its allies have not been willing honestly to face the challenges of our time -- especially from the coalition of oil-rich, rogue state sponsors of terror and their jihadist affiliates.

Instead they have been content to push for declining defense budgets and jettisoning their security obligations. This has -- and is -- making it increasingly difficult to find the leadership necessary to lead a coalition of nations to defeat the threats we face.

The United States is making three critical mistakes.

First, much of the deterrent effect of U.S. military power is being squandered. Not only have the U.S. and its NATO allies neglected their defense needs and cut defense budgets by a collective $2 trillion from the base budgets of 2009[1], but many leaders have adopted the view that military power is the problem, not part of the solution.

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