Apr 11 2008

Long-range Iranian missiles and Krauthammer-y Goodness

Posted by: Neocon in Foreign Policy, Iran

First, some news to follow up Iran’s nuclear announcement earlier this week. Gina Cobb and Jihad Watch report.

The secret site where Iran is suspected of developing long-range ballistic missiles capable of reaching targets in Europe has been uncovered by new satellite photographs.

The imagery has pinpointed the facility from where the Iranians launched their Kavoshgar 1 “research rocket” on February 4, claiming that it was in connection with their space programme.

Analysis of the photographs taken by the Digital Globe QuickBird satellite four days after the launch has revealed a number of intriguing features that indicate to experts that it is the same site where Iran is focusing its efforts on developing a ballistic missile with a range of about 6,000km (4,000 miles).

Oh goodie, more advanced Iranian nuclear delivery devices! And they’re secret, too. Very nice. I’m really surprised, though, because I was just so sure that the Iranians were all inspired about space travel after Ahmadinejad borrowed Apollo 13 from Kim Jong-il last Christmas…

Meanwhile, the ever amazing Charles Krauthammer has some advice for the U.S. Government. I couldn’t say it better if I tried.

It is time to admit the truth: The Bush administration’s attempt to halt Iran’s nuclear program has failed. Utterly. The latest round of U.N. Security Council sanctions, which took a year to achieve, is comically weak. It represents the end of the sanctions road.

So Charles dusts off the old cold war deterrence of “hit my friends, you’ve hit me.” Not as effective when the enemy has a severely lessened sense of self-preservation due to religious fervor, but still something to think about if we aren’t going to stop the Iranians while we have the chance.

How to create deterrence? The way John Kennedy did during the Cuban missile crisis. President Bush should issue the following declaration, adopting Kennedy’s language while changing the names of the miscreants:

It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear attack upon Israel by Iran, or originating in Iran, as an attack by Iran on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon Iran.

This should be followed with a simple explanation: “As a beacon of tolerance and as leader of the free world, the United States will not permit a second Holocaust to be perpetrated upon the Jewish people.”

This policy — the Holocaust Declaration — would establish a firm benchmark that would outlive this administration. Every future president — and every serious presidential candidate — would have to publicly state whether or not he supports the Holocaust Declaration.

Even with this policy, Mr. Krauthammer recognizes the difficultly in relying on it against zealots. He is still a believer in the possibility of Iranian revolution, though, and believes that this policy might help hasten its coming. I am quite a bit less hopeful.

It is, of course, hardly certain that deterrence would work on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other jihadists. But deterrence would encourage rational Iranian actors, of whom there are many, to restrain or even depose leaders like Ahmadinejad who might sacrifice Iran’s existence as a nation in order to vindicate their divine obligation to exterminate the “filthy bacteria” of the Jewish state, “this disgraceful stain (on) the Islamic world.”

Still, an unequivocal declaration of support and defense for Israel would be reassuring.

Update: Allahpundit at Hot Air picks it up. He doesn’t get why we need to play nuclear shield for one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world. Simple size would be my response. If Iran were able to squeeze off two or three launches, you could unfortunately lose quite a bit of Israeli real estate, making a return strike almost impossible in the time needed to stop Iran from capitalizing further on their assault. By making it clear that the U.S. is willing to slide on over a few seconds later, with a homeland safe and secure from Iranian nuclear missile assault, ready, willing, and able to unleash hell, it might help wipe the drool off those hardliners’ faces when they dream of destroying the “little Satan.” That’s my take, anyway.

Update: FullosseousFlap has some more on the Iranian missile site. Atlas Shrugs has some disturbing Iranian video. Jihad Watch exposes what an Iranian filmmaker has been saying.