The U.S. weighs the price of a pre-emptive strike on Iran
Monday, September 20, 2004 at 08:29AM
TheSpook
Unprepared as anyone is for a showdown with Iran, the
threat seems to keep growing. Many defense experts in Israel, the
United States and elsewhere believe that Tehran has been taking
advantage of loopholes in the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)
and is now within a year of mastering key weapons-production
technology. They can't prove it, of course, and Iran's leaders deny any
intention of developing the bomb. Nevertheless, last week U.S. and
Israeli officials were talking of possible military action--even though
some believe it's already too late to keep Iran from going nuclear (if
it chooses). "We have to start accepting that Iran will probably have
the bomb," says one senior Israeli source. There's only one solution,
he says: "Look at ways to make sure it's not the mullahs who have their
finger on the trigger." [more ]
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