PrintFebruary 1, 2008
A life-or-death reason to vote for any Republican
Here's a survival reason to vote Republican regardless of who wins the nomination, McCain or Romney. It's Mahmoud A'jad -- the martyrdom fanatic who runs the Tehran regime.
A'jad just told the world that:
"his country would produce nuclear energy by next year and condemned Israel as a 'filthy entity' that would soon collapse."
Ignored in our presidential debates, the Middle East is quickly being sucked into the most dangerous confrontation ever. That must inevitably bring in the United States, because our armed forces defend the oil supply that keeps the world running. We are also the biggest stabilizing force in a Middle East that is rife with brain-washed fanatics who are ready to die in order to kill.
A'jad has explained exactly how it will happen:
"Like it or not, the Zionist regime is heading toward annihilation ... The Zionist regime is a rotten, dried tree that will be eliminated by one storm."
That "one storm" is obviously a nuclear war, to be started by A'jad when he gets enough fissionable material. With his centrifuges running in Natanz he will have enough for one bomb in 24 months, according to the IAEA.
For the first time in the nuclear age, anti-missile defenses are becoming effective. We owe that development exclusively to three Republican presidents: Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George . Bush. If they had accomplished nothing else in their entire political careers, their strong commitment to defense against nuclear attack would still be of inestimable values -- they may literally have saved the planet.
Republican presidents, beginning with Ronald Reagan, are the only civilized leaders who have constantly promoted anti-missile technology. The Left has crazily resisted it, both here and in Europe. They still do. Obama and Hillary are total unknowns when it comes to US defense and survival. If the world has some margin of safety next year when A'jad gets his bomb, it is only because of thirty years of consistent Republican leadership in America.
Republican presidents, beginning with Ronald Reagan, are the only civilized leaders who have constantly promoted anti-missile technology. The Left has crazily resisted it, both here and in Europe. They still do. Obama and Hillary are total unknowns when it comes to US defense and survival. If the world has some margin of safety next year when A'jad gets his bomb, it is only because of thirty years of consistent Republican leadership in America.
We are finally beginning to see effective defense technology against mad regimes. But with push coming to shove in the Middle East, we must strengthen and accelerate our defenses as fast as possible.
That is why we must elect a Republican next year. I don't like McCain's habit of dissing the conservative base, but this is literally life and death. If nothing else, McCain understands military issues.
Without effective defense, the only way to deal with nuclear threats would be the threat of Mutually Assured Destruction. But there is real doubt whether A'jad can be detered by rational means. He says he would welcome death, and Khomeinist Iran has a thirty-year history of martyrdom warfare. Mutually Assured Destruction only works as a threat, never as a reality. Nobody wants to actually see mushroom clouds.
Ronald Reagan always hated the MAD doctrine, which gave the West only one option in the worst case. Today we have two options -- defense or retaliation. An effective defense against nuke-happy Khomeiniacs is by far the best option.
A number of nations are installing anti-missile systems, including Japan, India, Israel, Iran's Arab neighbors, and the United States. US naval vessels are equipped with both area defense and launch-phase anti-missile systems, which are increasingly effective. Those systems are also designed to work against attacking aircraft and cruise missiles.
A look at the map shows that an Iranian air or missile attack on Israel would have to cross the Gulf as well as Arab nations like Saudi Arabia or Syria. The Gulf States are now equipped with anti-missile systems and tracking radars. US spy satellites and naval vessels in the Gulf can detect ballistic missile launches in Iran. In addition, Israel has state-of-the-art US and home-produced anti-missile defenses, which are on hair-trigger alert. When Israel attacked Syria's mysterious nuclear site in September, air defenses at its Dimona nuclear plant went into high alert, a fact that was quickly leaked to the newspapers.
As a result, Israel, the United States, and Japan may be the best-defended countries in the world against looming missile dangers from rogue nations. Since many of those defenses are ship-based, we can move them at will to launch or target sites like North Korea or Japan.
No defense is foolproof. The Tehran regime could load up a boat with radioactive materials and explode it in the Strait of Hormuz or near Tel Aviv. Our ability to spot radioactive cargos can still be improved. Attacking stealth cruise missiles could possibly evade existing radars. There are other ways the Khomeiniacs could try to start a war. But anti-missile defense is far and away the most important.
We are still in a technological race to stay ahead of high-tech barbarians. We must stay a generation or two ahead of them.
So we should be grateful for what we have -- and elect a president in 2009 who will give the very highest priority to accelerating anti-missile defenses. We must always stay ahead of the threat.
James Lewis blogs at dangeroustimes.wordpress.com/
