I have commented before, about the rather low key recognition that seems to be given the threat to these United States that is Iran. We have recently seen
- Specifics about their nuclear weapons development.
- The ties that have been developed with Hugo Chavez, and the relationship being developed with Venezuela.
- The activities that they are taking in Nicaragua and the potential for infiltration of agents throughout the western hemisphere
- The questionable legitimacy of the recent presidential election
- The violent crackdowns within the country
- Actions to destabilize Iraq
- Sponsorship of Hezbollah, and their actions as an instigator within Israel and Lebanon.
Today – I see a piece in the WSJ, that reminds us that Iran really hasn’t changed all that much. It seems that there is a great deal of fear from the security forces there, and that they seem to be very similiar to the old Savak organization.
Back during the Iran Contra investigations, we saw Oliver North give testimony that Usama Bin Laden was arguably the most dangerous man on the planet. In 2009, we are struggling as a nation to combat the movement that UBL constructed and arrayed against those nations that are not predominantly Muslim. I see some parallels here with the actions that Iran have been taking over the past several years and I fear that we are close to a tipping point where direct action will surface in the form of state sponsored terrorism within North America and Europe.
In addition, we are likely to see state level actions within the middle east that are driven by Iran. Please recall that Iran and Iraq fought a war over oil. It will not take much for Iran to roll up Iraq, particularly when US forces withdraw. From that action, there is an easy road into the Kingdom of Saud from northern border, and across the gulf.
It is in the interest of these United States that the mission in Afghanistan be well defined and spelled out. In my mind it is two fold:
- Capture or elimination of UBL, and elimination of Al Qaida and Taliban operations in Agghanistan, and Pakistan.
- Building of Infrastructure and government within Afghanistan to stabilize the region. That means power plants, telecommunications, moving away from poppy production to other crops, bringing in some level of industrial base and educational system, eliminating (or reducing) government and police corruption, and instituting a viable rule of law.
That is a tough mission but it is one that can be accomplished and doing so would allow the US to focus it’s resources on Iran (and other areas) to defuse the situation that is currently simmering. Our conflict with Iran goes back 3 decades (or more) and holds the potential to very quickly turn into a hot conflict. My fear is that the Iranians feel embolden at this time and may be in a position soon to execute a broad, sweeping operation that will cause us a great deal of pain, and heartache.