Terry Cowgill

Stormin’ Norman

January 20, 2008 on 5:20 pm | In National |

Heard an interview on Hugh Hewitt the other day with Norman Podhoretz , the neo-con icon who recently wrote a much-talked-about piece advocating military action against Iran’s nuke facilities.

You know, it’s times like these that I’m grateful I don’t (and never will) command a huge military. My first reaction to Podhoretz’s piece (and indeed the whole notion of bombing Iran) was that it is a bit nutty and extremely dangerous. And most of me still feels that way.

But if you accept two logical premises in sequence (for both of which there is conflicting evidence, btw), then the choice about taking action becomes less clear: 1) If you think it’s obvious that Iran either has nukes or will develop them soon and 2) If you are convinced she will use them against Israel.

Now, Iran is major sponsor of terrorism, so I agree with Podhoretz  that it’s reasonable to conclude some of that nuke techonolgy could find its way into the hands of those who would use it to harm others, including us.

As for whether Iran would use nukes against Israel, I have no idea. But President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is on record as saying the Jewish state is “heading toward annihilation,” will soon “be liberated and “will be eliminated by one storm.” Apocolyptic rhetoric if ever I heard it.

Though officials there won’t admit it, Israel is also known to possess tactical nuclear weapons. If Iran attacked Israel and she responded, we could have a much more dangerous situation our hands than the simple political fallout from a U.S. attack on Iran’s nuke facilities. Indeed, the conflict could escalate well beyond the borders of the Middle East and have almost unspeakable consequences.

Now you see why I’m glad I’m not the guy with the security aid carrying around that nuclear football? Maybe what Podhoretz is hoping that if we don’t act (and despite all the saber-rattling, I’m not convinced Bush will) then Israel will.