Muddy Waters, Dangerous Undercurrents and Rocky Shoals

Muddy Waters:
As of this writing, Iran is developing nuclear capabilities. That much is known but beyond that, we only have speculation. The Israelis say that Iran will have a bomb within six months, US intelligence has said 6 years, and others have said that the Persian bomb already exists and of course, the useless IAEA is totally clueless. As with Saddam Hussein’s regime during the “containment years,” we are left wondering about the capabilities and schedule of the Iranian nuclear program and the intent of the Iranian regime.

Dangerous Undercurrents:
Throughout the 1990’s Democrats were on board with US Intelligence estimate regarding Saddam Hussein’s capabilities and intentions regarding chemical, biological and nuclear weapons and programs. Fortunately, they deposited a wealth of quotes attesting to the dangers of an unchecked Saddam Hussein.

President Clinton: "We Have To Defend Our Future From These Predators Of The 21st Century. They Feed On The Free Flow Of Information And Technology. They Actually Take Advantage Of The Freer Movement Of People, Information And Ideas. And They Will Be All The More Lethal If We Allow Them To Build Arsenals Of Nuclear, Chemical And Biological Weapons And The Missiles To Deliver Them. We Simply Cannot Allow That To Happen. There Is No More Clear Example Of This Threat Than Saddam Hussein's Iraq. His Regime Threatens The Safety Of His People, The Stability Of His Region And The Security Of All The Rest Of Us." (President Clinton, Remarks To Joint Chiefs Of Staff And Pentagon Staff, 2 /17/98)

Gore: " If You Allow Someone Like Saddam Hussein To Get Nuclear Weapons, Ballistic Missiles, Chemical Weapons, Biological Weapons, How Many People Is He Going To Kill With Such Weapons? He's Already Demonstrated A Willingness To Use These Weapons ..." (CNN's "Larry King Live," 12/16/98)

They are not likely to make that mistake again.

In the 2004 Presidential campaign, Democrat politics took a hard left turn as the Howard Dean hard-left, anti-war momentum in Missouri drew the “moderate Democrat” Presidential candidates to the left, leaving only Joe Liebermann supporting the war in Iraq. Bitterness over the Bush reelection lead the Democrats into a permanent attack mode. The “Bush lied” and “Joe Wilson, Niger Yellowcake and Sixteen Words” strategy took a heavy toll on the Bush poll numbers and as a result, we are unlikely to see our political leaders take a strong stand against Iranian efforts. When this recent history is coupled with lingering doubt of US Intelligence capabilities, we can expect a deafening silence from our politicians in regard to Iran.

Rocky Shoals:
It is doubtful that partisan politics will be set aside in favor of national security interests. Both parties are likely to be very circumspect about saying anything which can later be turned against them politically and a side effect will be poor leadership at a time when the nation needs its’ leaders united.

It will be to America’s enduring shame if political events of recent years leave us incapable of confronting the irrationality of a radical Islamic Republic hell-bent on providing the nuclear umbrella for jihad.