There’s something surprisingly encouraging about hearing that the Department of Defense has been scoping out possible WMD sites in Iran. Knowing our targets before we send missiles to the Middle East is an exciting idea. Seymour Hersh reported in the most recent issue of the New Yorker that the Bush administration has been sticking pins in the map since last summer, locating nuclear sites and chemical manufacturing plants that can be taken out with precision air strikes and ground raids. While it’s true that we often take a less than laudatory view of the Bush administration, we can’t fault them for their new impulse to think before they act. If we’re going to do something about a real threat like Iran-an increasingly likely danger-it’s crucial that we have all the facts. So, Mr. President, put that map up on the wall and stick away.
Hersh’s report indicates that there are plans in the works to destroy up to three dozen different WMD-related sites in Iran. Though the administration has strongly challenged some of his assertions, they have yet to categorically deny the points in the article. His sterling record as a journalist also gives strength to his allegations. Although the Department of Defense’s seizure of bureaucratic power from the CIA and other intelligence agencies is worrisome, its foresight is not.
By most estimates, Iran is only three to five years away from having nuclear weapons. This makes Iran an easy access point for terrorist groups who, if they can’t buy these weapons or their ingredients from the Iranian government, will simply steal them. Something needs be done, and if that includes tactical strikes on WMD plants, so be it.
America can’t afford involvement in another war. Iran has a fully equipped standing army that includes air and naval capabilities, and that can’t be overlooked. Military action in Iran, if that is the course we end up taking, will be no easy feat. Our army is already extended far beyond its limits, and billions of American dollars are already pouring into peacekeeping efforts in Iraq and rebuilding Afghanistan.
It is heartening to hear that the Bush administration’s response is to claim its current priority is diplomatic initiatives, and it is even more heartening to hear that at least this time they’re trying their best to make sure that the WMDs are present before we start bombing yet another Middle Eastern nation. We hope that this new concern with verifying the facts before we act is one small step towards responsible leadership.
