So Iran has broken the seals on its nuclear reactor and gotten back to work. Now have a look at James Robbins’ “Let Iran Go Nuclear?” I don’t think it’s coincidence that Iran has taken this action at a moment when Israel is in relative paralysis. Rumors of a strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities have been circulating in Israel for some time. But the Israelis cannot act without American support.

We are at war. We are not losing the war, but if Iran goes nuclear we will be. Iran is acting because it knows that Europe is weak, and because it sees the United States as paralyzed by domestic opposition to the war. During the presidential campaign, the Democrats wanted to offer Iran a “grand bargain:” we’ll give you nuclear facilities if you send us the spent fuel for safe-keeping. It’s obvious now (as it should have been then) that such a bargain is hopeless. Iran wants the bomb, and nothing but a military strike will deter it. Read that piece by Robbins and you’ll see what’s at stake. Reflecting on the question of a military strike, it seems that the main argument against it is political: Dovish Europeans, the America’s Democratic Party, and Middle Eastern countries will be angry at us for resorting to military means. This strikes me as a bad reason to hold back. The doves will be discredited when we see what comes of a nuclear Iran. But by then it will be too late.