Posted on 01/08/2012 8:26:51 AM PST by bkopto
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says Iran is laying the groundwork for making nuclear weapons someday, but is not yet building a bomb and called for continued diplomatic and economic pressure to persuade Tehran not to take that step.
As he has previously, Panetta cautioned against a unilateral strike by Israel against Iran's nuclear facilities, saying the action could trigger Iranian retaliation against U.S. forces in the region.
"We have common cause here" with Israel, he said. "And the better approach is for us to work together."
Panetta's remarks on CBS' Face the Nation, which were taped Friday and aired Sunday, reflect the long-held view of the Obama administration that Iran is not yet committed to building a nuclear arsenal, only to creating the industrial and scientific capacity to allow one if its leaders to decide to take that final step.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
More like Lenin, Ivan, Nikita or Leonid. He’s a traitor pure and simple.
Of course not! They are waiting for the okay from Obama...
Leon needs to remember, the Iranians first target will be a blue state, city, or DC.
Panetta and Biden must share the same brain cell.
Fixed it.
The logistics of smuggling even one nuclear weapon into the US would make an infiltration mission extremely unreliable. There are also control problems the mullahs are the ones who will want to press the button and they wont easily trust a remote team with possession of their most expensive toys.
On the other hand, it would be relatively easy to move in a half-dozen commando teams and light arms across the border undetected. This essentially is happening now with the Mexican drug cartels. Once deployed into major cities, the Hezbollah teams could cause a lot of damage and confusion before they were mopped up.
A freighter crewed by Iranian guards might get a bomb into a major harbor and detonate it with greater chance of success. That is one bomb and one harbor gone. However, there would be no possible follow-on attack under such conditions, nor any chance of avoiding retaliation.
A more likely scenario is a mass-attack on Israel with 10-19 IRBMs and a reserve of missiles aimed at the Saudi Arabian oil fields to discourage retaliation. Israel would be obliterated if even half the missiles worked, and the US would be under direct pressure from our European allies to avoid escalating the conflict.
Under the current Administration, US forces might actually be ordered to fire on Israeli nuclear weapons sites to prevent the surviving IDF crews from using them.
The Mullahs may have convinced themselves that this could work. They probably do not have enough warheads or missiles yet to try.
It is clear from the reports of STUXNET , factory work-accidents and assassinations of Iranian scientists, that something more than harsh economic sanctions is already impeding progress toward the Iranian goals.
The logic is quite simple. These are soothing lies, presented to a gullible public in order to justify doing nothing - at least overtly.
It has been said, "Diplomacy is the are of saying "nice doggie", until you can find a big rock".
Of course, by pushing for military cutbacks,the Obama Administration is getting rid of the big rock as fast as they can.
A reasonable conclusion is that, Obama is on the side of American enemies - as are many of his backers.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.