IIWIC: On action in Iran

(Note: This is more or less just an fanciful writing exercise, "If I was in charge".)

A statement on US actions in Iran:

The United States has a strong national interest in preventing the Iranian regime from acquiring a nuclear weapon. In addition to the regional threat this would pose to US forces in the region, the regime has been unequivocal in their desire to affect genocide on the people of various countries, including the United States, and as such there is a clear motivation for us to attempt to limit their access to weapons of mass destruction. On this goal we are aligned with all regional partners, the United Nations, and all other civilized and peace loving nations in the world.

At the same time, the Iranian regime has been unequivocally working to acquire a nuclear weapon for at least the last few decades. From impeding inspections, to enriching Uranium far beyond the levels required for fuel, to building concealed and hard to target development facilities, to various disingenuous negotiations and broken promises, there can be no doubt that this is their goal. Various countries have solid intelligence information to back up this assessment, but that is not really even necessary to draw the conclusion: it is already plainly evident from the rest of the regime's actions.

Recently, Israel, the most frequent and fervent target of the regime's genocidal rhetoric, became convinced that the regime was close to the production of a nuclear bomb. Given the imminent risk of such, they decided to act, to degrade the regime's progress and capabilities in this area. While we always regret the costs of war, we certainly understand Israel's motivations, and stand behind their actions in this matter; diplomacy has proven ineffectual in preventing this near-outcome, and this is the only remaining viable option.

I want to be clear, though: we support Israel's actions only in so far as to degrade the ability of the regime to strike their enemies militarily, and their development efforts toward a nuclear bomb. We do not, and will not, stand behind efforts to cause unnecessary collateral damage in pursuit of this goal, or the targeting of civilian populations. We have seen no evidence of this from the Israel side; the same cannot be said of Iranian regime, but their actions (while constituting war crimes) are in-line with their stated genocidal goals, so are not unexpected.

I also want to be clear that, to the extent that the United States offers support in the efforts against Iran, it will only be in the same context as above: to degrade the regime's ability to inflect harm, and to set back their continued efforts to acquire a nuclear weapon. We harbor no illusions: decades of experience and efforts have shown that there is no viable diplomatic path to dissuade the regime from this pursuit. Thus, Israel, with international partners aligned with the goals above, are compelled to use military means to achieve that necessary goal.

The above being stated, I am announcing that the United States is offering active assistance with our military forces to that end. The manner and extent of that assistance must remain an operational secret for the time being, to be revealed at the appropriate time, and preferably after the current hostilities are concluded. However, I would like to reiterate once again that we are only providing our assistance with respect to the above specific goals; we are not declaring war on the country of Iran, seeking to degrade their civilian infrastructure, seeking to cause unnecessary harm to their people, contemplating an invasion, or anything else of the sort. Our participation in this effort is solely to achieve what diplomacy has failed to do: to make tangible progress in preventing the regime from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Over 15 years ago, President Obama revealed the existence of a previously secret nuclear enrichment and development facility, being constructed deep within a mountain in Iran, hidden from inspections, fortified against attack, unnecessary for energy production needs, and totally opaque to the rest of the world. There can be no doubt as to the intent of the design and operation of such a facility. Yet, in the intervening years, there has been no progress in motivating the Iranian regime to alter course in their pursuit of nuclear weapons. That has led inexorably to this moment, when action must be taken.

Let us all hope that these actions do not take longer than they need to, that they have a lasting impact on the country and its people, and that all peoples who desire an end to senseless killing and hateful genocide are able to come together, so that actions such as these are unnecessary in the future.