Iran is one year away from nukes-Awaiting Ayatollah's OK

It is being reported that Western intelligence services have concluded that Iran is now able to produce a nuclear weapon within one year. The controversial and much debated US National Intelligence Estimate two years ago concluded that Iran had ended its nuclear arms research program because of our invasion of Iraq. The Times is reporting that Tehran had halted the research only because it had achieved its aim of mastering the technology of detonating a warhead which could be launched on its long-range Shehab-3 missiles. The intelligence sources state that should Ayatollah Khamenei approve the building of a nuclear device, it would take six months to enrich enough uranium at the Natanz plant and another six months to assemble the warhead.

The Natanz plant consists of at least three large underground structures that house the main uranium enrichment facilities and will be high on the list of targets in the event of any preemptive strike. The Pentagon is seeking to speed deployment of an ultra-large bunker-buster bomb by July 2010, which may come too late if Iran decides to pull the trigger. It has been reported that the new non-nuclear 30K pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP)
could be put on contract within 72 hours with Boeing if Congress and President Obama decided to do so. The importance of this new weapon is really moot since Obama is still holding on to his candy-ass foreign policy in regards to halting Iran's nuclear weapons push.

President Obama has given Iran until next month to begin talks on resolving the nuclear issues, although hopes of any constructive engagement have dimmed since the regime’s crackdown on pro-reformist protesters. I do believe the Israelis are in the final stages of planning a preemptive strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, but are being hampered by the Obama Administrations hostile attitude towards Israels national security. Israel has also been hampered by the rejection of their request for bunker busting bombs and F-22 Stealth aircraft late last year by the Bush Administration.

With the new intelligence that is being reported, it is high time that Obama puts away the carrots and pulls out the big bunker-busting stick. If Obama and the Europeans are afraid to stop this new Persian Hitler, then they need to step back and support and equip Israel to handle the job at hand. The Israelis know that you can't negotiate with terrorists and to continue to do so is just folly.

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