Will the U.S. Really Attack Iran?

Will the U.S. really attack Iran? That's the word from investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, who reports that President Bush has drawn up plans to destroy the Islamic Republic's nuclear program through tactical nukes of America's own. Bush administration officials, however, deny the plans and insist that they will continue to pursue a diplomatic approach.

So what's actually going on?

Now that Iran has successfully enriched uranium, U.S. war planners certainly must have considered numerous scenarios, including, yes, a nuclear strike on their weapons facilities. This doesn't mean, however, that a nuclear attack is the most likely option, no matter what "proof" Hersh claims to have. This same man, after all, has carved a career out of delivering sensational reports on the U.S. government and military, and he often relies on anonymous and unsubstantiated evidence.

At the same time, though, we shouldn't rule a nuke strike out. Many prominent analysts (including the pseudonymous Spengler of the Asia Times) do believe that Iran threatens only its immediate neighborhood in pursuit of regional hegemony, and does not necessarily aim to attack America. But I wholeheartedly disagree. Not that Iran doesn't want regional hegemony (something the U.S. would need to address in any case), but based on certain statements by their president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, they seem cocky enough to believe that they truly can defeat America as well.

Sure, Ahmadinejad may be nuts, but when evil rulers say such things, we should absolutely believe them. No one took Hitler seriously when he announced plans to conquer the globe and kill Jews, and the world suffered through World War II as a result. No one took the Soviets seriously when they vowed to crush the West, and America endured a lengthy cold war. Ahmadinejad has made his intentions to destroy Israel and take down America no less clear, and we would be fools to ignore him. Allowing this madman to possess nuclear weapons would be the height of folly.

Given this, it is imperative that the U.S. and/or Israel destroys Iran's nuclear program before it's too late. No matter how it's done -- whether through diplomacy (which becomes unlikelier by the day), an internal Iranian revolution, targeted airstrikes, or full-scale war -- stopping their entrance to the nuclear club is America's, and the world's, most vital security concern.