The Military Imperative To Strike Iran’s Nuclear Facilities

[rangerrebew]

The Military Imperative To Strike Iran’s Nuclear Facilities
By Daniel M. Kolkey
January 22, 2025


One of the most consequential foreign policy challenges facing the incoming Trump Administration will be its policy toward Iran’s nuclear program. Prominent members of the U.S. foreign policy establishment urge a diplomatic solution before using military force.  But our margin for maneuver has narrowed. Iran may have a deliverable nuclear weapon within months. French President Macron recently warned that Iran’s nuclear program is “nearly to the point of no return.”[ii]  Given the lethal consequences of a nuclear-armed Iran, a military strike against Iran’s nuclear infrastructure can no longer wait.

Iran has every incentive to accelerate its nuclear weapons program immediately. The regime is at its most vulnerable point in 30 years: Israel degraded Iran’s air defense systems and hit industrial defense sites used to develop weapon systems (including ballistic missiles) in retaliation for Iran’s large-scale missile attack on Israel on October 1.[iii]  Additionally, Israel has destroyed Iran’s “forward defense” against it:  Israel has killed most of Hezbollah’s leadership in response to the terrorist organization’s years-long missile attacks on it. Meanwhile, it has devastated Iran’s other proxy, Hamas, in response to the October 7, 2023, massacres. With the Trump Administration promising to take a firmer approach against Iran’s nuclear program, Iran has every motivation to accelerate its clandestine nuclear weapons program to give it leverage.


A U.S. intelligence report released in early December acknowledges the likelihood that Iran has decided to build a nuclear bomb. An update from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) suggests that Iran is developing the capacity to make weapons grade uranium at its Fordow underground facility.[iv]  U.S. officials now believe it would take Iran only a few months to have a nuclear weapon.[v]  Richard Haass, President Emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, writes that Iran “is probably just weeks away from being able to produce enough weapons-grade uranium to fuel as many as a dozen nuclear weapons.”[vi]  Finally, Iran already has ballistic missiles that could carry a nuclear weapon and is working on an intercontinental version.

https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2025/01/22/a_military_strike_against_irans_nuclear_facilities_can_no_longer_be_delayed_1086296.html

[Fishrrman]

I agree that it's imperative to strike and destroy Iran's nuclear facilities.
However... this should primarily be... Israel's job.

Of one thing I'm certain:
These sites cannot be destroyed using "conventional" weapons.
If you've read this far, you know what that means.