Negotiations to keep Iran from enriching uranium past 5% have never been successful. In 2015, during the Obama administration, a deal — intended to curb Iran’s nuclear capabilities — was signed off by the U.S. and several other countries. After leaving as President Barack Obama’s secretary of state, Hillary Clinton endorsed the Iran nuclear deal. During a campaign speech in her 2016 presidential run, though ,she said that she would “distrust and verify” that Iran was living up to its obligations under the nuclear agreement. She cited military action as an option, stating: “If necessary as president, I will take whatever actions are necessary to protect the United States and our allies. I will not hesitate to take military action if Iran attempts to obtain a nuclear weapon.”
The world has never had a war of nuclear exchange. Yes, we dropped atomic bombs on Japan during World War II, but that was the only time weapons of mass destruction have ever been deployed. The question is: How would you trust a nation to not deploy a nuclear weapon when it’s clearly shown that it will kill dissenters and protesters in its own nation on a mass scale? Iran has the missile capability to deliver a nuclear weapon anywhere in the Middle East and parts of Europe. In the past four weeks, they’ve shown no hesitation or remorse about striking neighboring countries and shutting down international waters in the Strait of Hormuz. An Iranian-Israeli nuclear exchange would be a worldwide catastrophe. And a retaliatory strike by Israel is a certainty if it were attacked.
So how do you prevent a nation with weapons grade uranium and a proven long-range delivery system from blackmailing the entire Middle Eastern oil supply or worse, starting a war that would kill millions of innocent people and contaminate the atmosphere with nuclear material?
We’re dealing with a rogue ideology and government that has been killing American citizens and servicemen and women throughout the world for 40-plus years and that shows no sign of discontinuing that program. The actions of previous presidents to appease Iran and keep it from developing a nuclear weapon haven’t worked. There is no reason to believe that they would in the future, and you can’t keep declaring a red line without the commitment and resolve to back it up.
None of us likes the high gas prices. But losing in a game of nuclear Russian roulette would require an immensely greater sacrifice from us than we are undergoing right now. You can hate President Donald Trump for the action that he’s undertaken against Iran. But none of his critics ever offered or presented a permanent solution to curb Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions.
Decisive action is not always popular or without sacrifice. Unfortunately, it is sometimes necessary. And this, whether we like it or not, is one of those times.
Hassoldt is a field forester who lives in Kendrick.