Straight ahead, confrontation with Iran

Terror experts believe that 'Tehran has been maneuvering for years to secure certain interests in the region. First and foremost is the country's own national security, for which the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime in Baghdad was prerequisite. An Iranian strategy began emerging almost from the moment the statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad fell in April 2003, leading to the secondary and equally desirable goal: regional hegemony.'

Iran's plans may be coming to fruition in the next 3 to 6 months. Kenneth R. Timmerman believes that "We got to this point because the White House essentially caved in to intense pressure from the CIA and the foreign policy establishment, and refused to do the one thing that could have headed off this crisis: that is, to support the rights of the Iranian people and their struggle for freedom against this clerical tyranny. And now, it is almost – almost – too late."

The United Nations finally passed UNSC Resolution 1737, 'which bans nuclear and missile-related trade with Iran, and includes a short list of Iranian government entities and individuals whose assets could be subject to seizure and who could be banned from international travel.'

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad responded to the UN resolution by saying, “This resolution will not harm Iran and those who backed it will soon regret their superficial act, ... Iranians are neither worried nor uncomfortable with the resolution...we will celebrate our atomic achievements in February,” he added.

Iran may have covert nuclear programs but they have also chosen to brag publicly about some aspects of their nuclear 'achievements'. This bragging was almost a taunt to the West, 'look what we can do and you can do nothing to stop us'. Stratfor believes that Iran has conducted an 'image campaign for Ahmadinejad, who has been carefully and purposely branded in the public mind as an utter lunatic.' But to what end? To make 'Israel and the United States think twice about whether to attempt any military adventures concerning the Islamic Republic.'

The chief tactics employed have been manipulation of political events in Iraq, a vocal emphasis on Iran's nuclear program, skillful use of politically incorrect (at times, seemingly maniacal) statements by Ahmadinejad, the activation of regional proxies and, above all, patience.

I'm not so sure Ahmadinejad's reputation is all 'campaign'. I think he believes and means what he says.

After all these years, Saddam will now be hanged within the next 30 days and his execution will be videotaped. Mr. Timmerman reminds us 'a few weeks ago, Ahmadinejad announced to the world that Iran had completed its uranium enrichment experiments and was now preparing to install 3,000 production centrifuges at its now-declared enrichment plant in Natanz, in central Iran.'

“From Sunday morning [December 24] , we will begin activities at Natanz – the site of 3,000-centrifuge machines – and we will drive it with full speed. It will be our immediate response to the resolution,” Iran’s Kayhan paper quoted him as saying.

How is this possible? Well, for one thing, it is likely that Iran has been producing centrifuges in factories and workshops it has not declared to the IAEA. Worse, it may be operating a clandestine enrichment facility buried deep underground already, as many in Israel and U.S. intelligence have long believed. ...

While all of this is developing, the United States and Britain have begun a quiet buildup of their naval forces in the Persian Gulf, with the goal of keeping the Strait of Hormuz open to international shipping. (source)

Iran and it's support of Israel's other enemies:

Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), one of several Iran-backed terrorist groups operating inside Gaza, has claimed responsibility for much of the Qassam fire that has breached the cease-fire in the last month. One of the Qassams landed in the southern Israeli town of Sderot on Dec. 26, seriously wounding two teenage boys.

In response to that incident, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert released a statement on Dec. 27 that read: "A directive has been given to take pin-point action against the rocket-launching squads. In parallel, Israel will continue to preserve the cease-fire and will act vis-à-vis the Palestinian Authority in order for them to take immediate action to stop the shooting of Qassams." [3]

Abu Ahmed, a PIJ spokesman, confirmed that the group was deliberately launching Qassams in an attempt to jeopardize the fragile cease-fire by provoking a response by the Israel Defense Forces.[4]

The United States, the European Union, and the Australian and Canadian governments officially designate PIJ as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO).

Iran provides an estimated $2 million in state-sponsored funding to PIJ annually. [5] (source, The Israel Project)

So it appears Israel, the United States and others are already confronting Iran's agents in several different areas and under many different labels. However, the potential for a head-on confrontation with Iran may be much closer that some expected. I wonder if the newly elected Democratic majority in the United States Congress have considered how to deal with this threat? Hmmmm? Maybe they still think diplomacy with Iran is the answer. They should know that Ahmadinejad is crazy ... crazy like a fox.

Comments

[gary aikman]

you wanna know the real timmerman? he is a fake and a coward. to know more about the iran issue, learn more about trita parsi and the national iranian american council (niac). timmerman wrote some articles defaming niac, and here was niac's response: http://www.niacouncil.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=744&Itemid=59

[Debbie]

Don I agree with you completely. A pre-emptive strike on their nuclear facilities by either the U.S. or Israel is a good idea.

[Don]

Allowing Iran developing a nuclear waepon would be a terrible mistake. Remember Germany at Munich in 1938? I'm afraid the world has learned nothing about the need to stop zealots with dangerous ambitions at all costs! I agree with critics that preemptive action has its (short term) risks, but in the long run we're safer and better off!

[A.C.]

This is all the more interesting with the Iranians captured in Baghdad the other day at the SCIRI HQ, members of the al Qods forces. Now Iraq has released them all, but not before we got a lot of info off their laptops.

I think we're not quite ready to pull the trigger, but some kind of confrontation is inevitable.

[Angel]

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!