Peace activists naive about Iran threat

The Island Now

It was interesting to read about the misguided policies and revisionist view of world history espoused by the so-called “nuclear disarmament/peaceful alternatives” movement, in an Aug. 17 article in this newspaper (by Ms. Rubin). Sadly, the movement and the article support positions that are counterproductive to the goal of a safe and peaceful world.  

The first task of anyone who wants a safe and peaceful world, free from madmen’s nuclear threats, should be to stop the genocidal Islamic Republic of Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.  

The constant drumbeats from Teheran (and during Ahmadinejad’s current New York visit) of “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” leave no doubt that Iran will use nuclear weapons to take millions of innocent lives. 

Yet, incredibly, the same “movement” which claims to want a peaceful, nuclear-free world opposes the efforts to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, and condemns Gov. Romney and Paul Ryan for understanding the real threat that a nuclear Iran poses, and what needs to be done to end this threat. 

Obama’s “outreach” efforts to Iran’s mullahs, foot-dragging on sanctions, refusal to even let sanctions come to a vote for 18 months, failure to take effective action, outrageous leaks of specific Israeli military plans, refusal to support the 2009 Iranian people’s uprising, abandonment of our prior missile defense agreements with Poland and the Czech Republic (which would have helped counter missile threats from Iran), recent comment that Israel’s concerns about Iran are just “noise,” and refusal to meet with Netanyahu, have not brought us closer to a nuclear-free Iran.  

In fact, the opposite is the case.  Iran has more centrifuges running, and more highly-enriched uranium than ever before – well beyond the level and quantities needed for any peaceful purpose. With Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood government now restoring ties with Iran, the danger has increased exponentially that those bent on the destruction of Israel and the West will use Iran-supplied nukes.  

In late August, a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of Iran’s Majlis (parliament), Mansour Haqiqatpour, told Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency that Iran is ready to participate in joint nuclear activities with Egypt, and that Iran “is ready to transfer its nuclear know-how and experience to Egypt.”

Another basic task of anyone who wants a safe, WMD-free, peaceful world is to make sure that any particularly destructive weapons stay out of the hands of terrorists. 

The disarmament/ “peaceful alternatives” movement should thus be outraged that, following the rebels’  takeover of Libya, huge caches of missiles and other highly destructive weapons that Khaddafi had kept under lock and key were dispersed to various terrorist-affiliated groups throughout the Middle East.  

Yet, the “peaceful alternatives” article praised Obama for his Libyan involvement, without mentioning the administration’s ineptness which unleashed a multitude of dangerous weapons to the wrong parties.  

We saw the heartbreaking consequence of terrorists armed with heavy weaponry last week when Islamic terrorists brutally murdered Ambassador Stevens and three fellow Americans in Benghazi.

Of course, the “nuclear disarmament” crowd should also support Israel, since Israel has done more than any other country (and more than any so-called peace alternatives disarmament movement) to take nuclear weapons out of the hands of rogue nations and homicidal dictators.   Israel’s destruction of Iraq’s Osiriak nuclear weapons facility in 1981 saved countless American and other innocent lives.  And, it is frightening to think about how much worse the situation would be in Syria today if Israel had not destroyed Syria’s al-Kibar nuclear weapons facility in 2007.

However, instead of supporting Israel, the article and the “peace alternatives” crowd patter about the “Palestinian cause” – conveniently forgetting that the Palestinian’s openly-stated goal is the complete annihilation of Israel – something that any lover of peace should abhor.   

Regarding the article’s refusal to face current realities regarding Russia, the following true story says it best:  A few years ago, two of my children and I visited St. Petersburg.  My son asked our group’s Russian tour guide, “How have things changed here in Russia since the end of the Cold War?”  Our tour guide smirked, and answered, with her heavy Russian accent:  “Vat makes you tink Cold Var ees over?”

One of the most famous adages in the Talmud is: “Those who are kind to the cruel will end up being cruel to the kind.”   Disarming those who want a free and peaceful world, while letting those who want to destroy us run amok, is the unkindest of all. 

Shana Tova.

 

Elizabeth Berney, Esq., 

Great Neck

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