Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Wheels turning on the axis of evil

In his State of the Union speech after the September 11 attack, George Bush defined an "axis of evil" comprised of (at least) Iran, Iraq, and North Korea.

Charles Krauthammer looks at Iran's behavior and thinks the wheels may be turning around at least one part of the axis. Iran is playing with (nuclear) fire.

The Iranians had broken the seals on their nuclear facilities and were resuming activity in defiance of their pledges to the "E.U. Three." This negotiating exercise, designed as an alternative to the U.S. approach of imposing sanctions on Iran for its violations of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, had proved entirely futile. If anything, the two-year hiatus gave Iran time to harden its nuclear facilities against bombardment, acquire new antiaircraft capacities and clandestinely advance its program.

An Israeli bombing strike probably won't be enough to shut down any Iranian program.

In a previous article, Krauthammer looks at who's running Iran.

Everyone knows where Iran's nuclear weapons will be aimed. Everyone knows they will be put on Shahab rockets, which have been modified so that they can reach Israel. And everyone knows that if the button is ever pushed, it will be the end of Israel. But it gets worse. The president of a country about to go nuclear is a confirmed believer in the coming apocalypse.

Krauthammer sees two choices: a military strike, or more of the same.

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