Letters to the President #1143: 'Stopping Iranians suspected nuke program'

Reporter's Note: Each day, I write to the president. A full letter, not some half baked note on a postcard. He has never responded. Not even with a half baked note on a postcard.

Dear Mr. President,

Let me begin by saying that it is far from my right or responsibility to decide how or when we might decide to do something about any designs the Iranians may have on nuclear weapons. So you won’t need to give me a dressing down as you did some of your political foes earlier this week. How was that? “Well, I guess if you’re not Commander in Chief you can play around with talk of starting wars. Not me!” Something along those lines.

But I will say this: Whether we act through diplomatic channels, or economic sanctions, or maybe even if we decide to make it a fighting matter, I think Iran will probably wind up with a nuclear weapon in the end anyway. I don’t mean next week or even next month. Maybe with enough pressure we might even delay it for ten years, but it just seems as if all the evidence says Iran is not only heading toward that goal, but also that it is going to get there.

Think about it. Seems kind of hard to come up with a good reason, from their point of view, for giving up the quest. We’re angry? They don’t like us anyway. We and other nations are going to isolate them economically? I fear their leaders may look at that as a cost of the nuclear business; a temporary inconvenience in exchange for a long term strategic advantage. We and/or Israel might hit them militarily if they continue down this path? Yes, that’s true, but from their perspective I can easily see how an Iranian strategist might privately argue that this is the very reason they need nukes; to deter such military pressure.

Again, don’t think that I am endorsing their position. Far from it. I simply fear that they may already be so far down the nuclear road, that there may be little that anyone can do to stop them. It would be nice to wrong. But if I am right, your headaches about Iran and nukes are just beginning.

Regards,
Tom