Israel Should INDEED Strike Now
From my reply to polaris93 in http://polaris93.livejournal.com/3505042.html?view=3767186#t3767186 referencing Ken Blackwell in Townhall, "Strike, Israel! Strike Now!" (Feb 06, 2012):
The reason, of course, why Israel should strike now is that Iran clearly has the intent to attack Israel as soon as its nuclear weapons are ready. The normal evil of a pre-emptive strike is thus greatly superseded by the evil of allowing the deaths of hundreds of thousands to millions of innocent Israeli citizens, which is what will probably happen if the Israelis wait until the Iranians make a nuclear attack.
IMO, Israel should not merely strike, but strike with nuclear weapons, the better to wreck the Iranian reactors and missile production centers. I expect our taboo against nuclear weapons use to stop them, but even a conventional strike might be enough to stymie the Iranian program long enough for someone or something else to bring down that nightmare regime. So it would be worthwhile.
If Israel doesn't strike very soon, historians may see this failure to strike as the ultimate failure of Israel to protect the Jewish people, and hence the beginning of the failure of Israel as a nation. Israel's dream could die, and she should not count on any other nation to save her before the fact.
Yes, if Iran does strike Israel with nuclear weapons, the Israeli retaliation will probably be on a scale that will finish Iran as a Power and possibly even as a coherent nation. But that won't resurrect the Israeli dead.
Israel needs to strike now, before her only remaining question is just how many Iranians she must kill in revenge for her own dead.
The reason, of course, why Israel should strike now is that Iran clearly has the intent to attack Israel as soon as its nuclear weapons are ready. The normal evil of a pre-emptive strike is thus greatly superseded by the evil of allowing the deaths of hundreds of thousands to millions of innocent Israeli citizens, which is what will probably happen if the Israelis wait until the Iranians make a nuclear attack.
IMO, Israel should not merely strike, but strike with nuclear weapons, the better to wreck the Iranian reactors and missile production centers. I expect our taboo against nuclear weapons use to stop them, but even a conventional strike might be enough to stymie the Iranian program long enough for someone or something else to bring down that nightmare regime. So it would be worthwhile.
If Israel doesn't strike very soon, historians may see this failure to strike as the ultimate failure of Israel to protect the Jewish people, and hence the beginning of the failure of Israel as a nation. Israel's dream could die, and she should not count on any other nation to save her before the fact.
Yes, if Iran does strike Israel with nuclear weapons, the Israeli retaliation will probably be on a scale that will finish Iran as a Power and possibly even as a coherent nation. But that won't resurrect the Israeli dead.
Israel needs to strike now, before her only remaining question is just how many Iranians she must kill in revenge for her own dead.