Monday, July 13, 2009

John Bolton: Strike on Iran Is Israel's Only Option

Newsmax

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton asserts that with Iran's hard-line regime still in control, Israel's decision on whether to attack Iran's nuclear facilities is "more urgent than ever." . The unrest that followed Iran's disputed presidential election suggested that regime change could possibly be in the offing. But that prospect seems lost for the near future, or at least for as long as it will take Iran to produce a deliverable nuclear weapon, Bolton argues.

"Accordingly, with no other timely option, the already compelling logic for an Israeli strike is nearly inexorable," he declared in an article published in The Washington Post.

The Obama administration's approach is to push for negotiations with Iran and threaten stronger sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

But Bolton insists Iran won't negotiate in good faith, and further sanctions won't prevent Iran from producing weapons when it chooses.

"Time is too short, and sanctions failed long ago," he points out.

Furthermore, since there is little likelihood that diplomacy will produce an agreement before Iran obtains the weapons, "there is no point waiting for negotiations to play out," says Bolton, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

He adds, "Those who oppose Iran acquiring nuclear weapons are left in the near term with only the option of targeted military force against its weapons facilities . . .

"Otherwise, be prepared for an Iran with nuclear weapons, which some, including Obama advisers, believe could be contained and deterred. That is not a hypothesis we should seek to test in the real world. The cost of error could be fatal."

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