re: yak - calling a spade, a spade
Yak, still trying to locate the interviewee (is there such a word). Also have a look at the bolded area of this post. Looks like I'm not the only one who saw the interview.
I'll try to locate the "ruling clerics" comments as well. ***********************************************************************************************************************
Iranian and North Korean Nuclear Threats are Imminent
If I recall correctly, about two years ago the head of Israeli intelligence stated that Iran would probably have an indigenous nuclear weapon by the year 2005. This is the year 2003.
And at about the same time as the Israeli assessment, U.S. intelligence agreed that Iran would, in geopolitical time scales, shortly have a nuclear weapon. But, at that time, the U.S. thought that Iran would have its first nuclear weapon around the year 2008 or maybe the year 2010.
Now even the ever-cautious analysts at the CIA apparently concludes that Iran will have indigenous nuclear weapons much sooner than they once thought. So, my conclusion is that the Israelis were probably right in their assessment – which means that 2005 could be the year that Iran will field nuclear weapons, if appropriate action is not taken soon.
However, I again remind the reader that this is already the year 2003. Thus, the time for grave concern is here, now, not later.
In addition to the above, at about the time when the Israelis reached their conclusion regarding the time scale of Iranian production of nuclear devices, the ruling Iranian cleric, who holds the final say in Iran, essentially stated that it was the duty of Iran to attack Israel with nuclear weapons as soon as it got them.
Therefore, given Iranian hatred of Israel, and with Iran possibly in the final stages of developing nuclear weapons, I would say that a threat to use them against our friends in Israel is reason for grave concern. There is thus reason to prepare for military action against Iran's nuclear weapons production facilities, else we should at least be prepared to mind our own business if the Israelis are forced to take care of theirs.
Concerning the matter of the threat posed by Iran's nuclear weapons program, there is more: We now have reports that Iran is sheltering al-Qaeda forces, just as there have been reports for almost a year that Iran has been helping those forces migrate from Afghanistan to Iraq and Lebanon.
So, given Iran’s hatred for the U.S., and given that Iran is friendly with al-Qaeda, and given that Iran is on the verge of finalizing production of nuclear weapons, shouldn’t we be worried that terrorists will soon have a nuclear weapon in their hands?
There are thus two very good reasons for the U.S. to prepare for prompt and decisively-neutralizing military action against Iran's nuclear facilities: The first being the need to protect Israel from possible nuclear attack and thus prevent a terrible evil from taking place. This would also make unnecessary the almost-certainly-nuclear counterattack that would follow any nuclear attack on Israel.
The second reason for the U.S. to prepare for prompt action against Iran's nuclear facilities is the need to protect one or more U.S. cities from potential nuclear annihilation -- by terrorists who would have gotten a nuclear weapon or weapons from Iran. This would include protecting the nation's capital and heart of the free world, Washington, DC.
And, as we prepare to neutralize Iran's nuclear weapons capabilities, in parallel, the U.S. should prepare to remove Iran's long-range ballistic missile threat and prepare to rapidly and without pause destroy Iran's anti-ship weapons in such places as the Strait of Hormuz, else Iran will still hold a big BCW hammer over Israel and the whole Persian Gulf, as there could be BCW counterattacks against U.S. forces at sea and on land, including forces deployed in Iraq and possibly even Afghanistan.
Lest we forget, Iran has an unquestionably big BCW and long range missile capability – just as Iran has cruise missiles that can attack U.S. warships.
