December 7, 2005
We know several things about Iran. We know their new president has said publicly he believes Israel should be wiped off the map. We also know that Iran is developing nuclear devices that many Westerners strongly believe will be turned into nuclear weapons. Put the two together and you have a prescription for disaster in the Middle East.
While many world leaders and diplomats are rubbing the equivalent of worry beads, former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken the unspeakable and thought the unthinkable. While campaigning for the office he once held in Israel’s March 28 election, Netanyahu has said he would support a pre-emptive strike against Iran’s nuclear program. It is the first time an Israeli leader has openly called for military action against Iran.
Netanyahu recalled Menachem Begin’s air strike against Iraq’s nuclear reactor in 1981 and how it gave the region something resembling tranquility for twenty years.
It’s funny that when Iran and other nations threaten mass destruction against Israel and the U.S., it’s no big deal. But when Israel calls for self defense, the world becomes upset. Netanyahu, like Begin before him, may be right.
