I know that the above statement will never be uttered by any elected politician, particularly those politicians running for president in 2008; and very few pundits will put the same words into print, but since I am unconstrained by such niceties and electoral considerations, I will go on the record and say it. Unless the present mullahcracy and Ahmadinejad are usurped in an unlikely coup d’état, The United States and Israel, along with various closeted allies, will be forced to conduct military operations to strike at Iran’s widely scattered nuclear facilities. The culmination of this conflict, which in actuality has been ongoing for 30 years since the Iranian Revolution of 1979, is rapidly approaching; and there will be no negotiation, no diplo-speak, no compromise that heads this confrontation off.
The truth that many people find difficult to grasp is that Iranian regime has irrevocably resolved to destroy Israel and whomever else it can destroy in the process, even if it brings about its own destruction in the process. Sounds implausible? If it does, then you have not understood fully the psyche of the Iranian regime, their utter hatred and contempt for Israel and the West, and their unbreakable desire to see the State of Israel to its end, even if it sets forth a much broader regional conflict that kills millions of its own civilians (and I do not use that number loosely), and ultimately its own destruction. We are dealing with a rational, calculating, and yet simultaneously evil Iranian regime; completely disinterested in peaceful resolution, and fanatically obsessed with realizing its perverted religious and eschatological aims.
When these U.S. military operations commence, they will be quickly followed by assymetric terrorist attacks at mostly soft U.S. targets around the world, conducted by various terrorist groups who are waiting for the green light to strike unsuspecting civilians and tourists. We can and should expect a number of terrorist attacks on U.S. soil in the wake of U.S. Military operations in Iran. Of course, these same groups would love to strike harder and more fortified targets that could cause serious economic disruptions and cause mass casualties, but striking soft targets of opportunity will be an attempt by these terrorists to instill a climate of panic, fear, and confusion across the populace, with the hope that the schisms within the general population will be further exacerbated. If these operations occur during the remainder of President Bush’s tenure, rest assured there will be intensified calls for the President’s impeachment.
We will also see many liberals and Democrats opine that these terrorist attacks on U.S. soil were reprisals for U.S. aggression, hegemony, arrogance, etc.; however this analysis is pure folly. We presently have numerous terrorist cells of many stripes- al-Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah, - poised to strike within the United States. They have already formed the murderous intent to strike U.S. targets, irregardless of what foreign policy path we pursue. There will be much caterwauling on the left complaining that we brought these strikes upon ourselves, but unfortunately many on the political left do not fully comprehend the viciousness and evil nature of the terrorist threat, and the only way that these terrorists can be thwarted is if they are killed or captured prior to executing their murderous aims.
How far are we away from these military operations and subsequent terrorist attacks occurring? I say we are much closer in time to these events coming to pass than the conventional wisdom of the punditry states. I believe we are talking about a range of anywhere between the next several months and 5 years from now; depending upon a whole host of political circumstances and events going on behind the scenes. It is impossible to gauge exactly much more precisely than this, given that the citizenry is not privy to much crucial information (and rightfully so), but we should also be aware that the Israelis are privately very nervous about how far along Iran’s nuclear programme has actually developed, and it is their existence which is under direct threat. Couple that with the fact that historically, intelligence agencies have a poor record of exactly gauging the progress of clandestine nuclear weapons programs, and we are talking about events unfolding sooner, not later.
The bottom line is this- don’t be surprised when the U.S. Military operations commence without warning, and expect that domestic terrorist reprisals will follow. This is a conflict that most unfortunately, needs to happen- I can only pray that its conclusion brings about the minimum number of U.S. military and civilian casualties. I also hope and pray that as many innocent Iranian civilians, many of whom are pro-U.S. and have been repressed for decades by the radical Islamists, are spared; yet at the same time I hope that the Ahmadinejad regime and its terrorist proxies are brought to their ultimate demise.
