Israel States We Have "Months" Before Iran Becomes A Serious Threat

Not being able to sleep has it's pluses and it's drawbacks. Drawback #1, not enough sleep. Plus #1, your up late enough that you catch stories like this one from YNET where Minister Livni is once again warning the world about Iran:

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said on Sunday that the world may have as little as “A few months” to avoid a nuclear Iran and called for sanctions.

“The crucial moment is not the day of the bomb. The crucial moment is the day in which Iran will master the enrichment, the knowledge of enrichment,” she said on CNN’s “Late Edition.”

Livni, whose country is the only Middle East power possessing nuclear weapons, said she did not want to identify a point of “No return” in the controversy over Iran’s nuclear program.

The Iranians, she said, “Are trying to send a message that it’s too late, you can stop your attempts because it’s too late. It’s not too late. They have a few more months,” She said.

“The world cannot afford a nuclear Iran,” Livni said. “I believe that this is time for sanctions.”

Iran, whose president last year called for Israel to be “Wiped off the map,” denies it is seeking nuclear weapons.

Minister Livni is spot on in her assessment, and she's right to point out that it is not when the bomb is finished that is the point of no return. No, the point of no return is met the moment Iran masters the technology. Then it's go-time. But now, we can slow them down if sanctions are initiated, and enforced. That means holding other nations accountable when they break the sanctions, and holding Iran responsible for its actions, as well.

This isn't a matter to take lightly at all. We have been saying for months that a nuclear-armed Iran is a nightmare int he making. Ahmadinejad is a little nutty, and he might be nutter enough to actually sacrifice his nation in a bold move to strike a regional nation. Say like Israel? But Ahmadinejed is no dummy, and he knows that the ensuing retaliatory strike will lay waste to Iran. His one little nuke won't take ouit Israel. A half-dozen might, but will Ahmadinejad play chicken with the West when he only has a few nukes? No. He wants to be sure of a win, and that isn't a winning strategy.

We are concerned about Iran's nuclear ambitions. Every American ought to be a little worried about the idea. This is a nation that sponsors and gives sanctuary to Hezbollah--a terror group recognized by America as such. They oppress their people, and crack down on dissent with sometimes deadly accuracy. They activley work towards taking Israel down, by any means at their disposal deemed necessary, and they are working to undermine Lebanon's government. They deal with Russia and China, who apprently have no guilt about selling high-tech weapons to them. They engaged in the use of chemical WMDs int he Iran/Iraq war. And as YNET points out, they have actively stated that Israel needs to "be wiped off the map."

Is this really a nation we can negotiate with, or even consider noramlizing relations with? I honesty don't think we can. wE can't trust them. To do so would be nearly Chamberlain in thought and deed; the treaties, agreements, and accords agreed to and signed will only be broken. And in the meantime, Ahmadinejad is simply stalling for time. Israel knows it, and is warning the world again of the dangers. Will the world listen? It had better because waking up one morning and learning that a radical, Islamofascist regime is in possession of nuclear weapons is not a prospect that is going to make anyone happy. At least not the Western nations of the world.

Publius II