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Politics : Just the Facts, Ma'am: A Compendium of Liberal Fiction -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sully- who wrote (61896)	8/10/2007 2:45:41 AM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 90947

Iran's belligerence leaves a lot to be alarmed about. So does the civilized world's cavalier attitude toward the problem. Beating Tehran At The Oil Game By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY Posted Wednesday, August 08, 2007 4:20 PM PT Middle East: More U.S. troops were killed by Iranian bombs in July than any other month since the war in Iraq began. This can't be allowed to continue. The U.S. and the civilized world must isolate the nasty Islamofascist regime in Tehran and then crush it. It would be preferable if it were done without military intervention, but the threat of force cannot be taken off the table. Last month, the roadside bombs from Iran, called "explosively formed penetrators," were used in 99 attacks, the New York Times reports. A third of the U.S.-led soldiers who were killed in July were victims of these weapons. "Such bombs, which fire a semi-molten copper slug that can penetrate the armor on a Humvee and are among the deadliest weapons used against American forces, are used almost exclusively by Shiite militants," the Times says. "American intelligence officials have presented evidence that the weapons come from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran, although Tehran has repeatedly denied providing lethal assistance to Iraqi groups." Those aren't the only Iranian weapons that have been shipped into Iraq to be used against Americans. Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, second in command in Iraq behind Gen. David Petraeus, said this week that serial numbers on 50 rocket launchers found within range of a 3rd Infantry Division base during a recent raid provide evidence that they were made in Iran. A less recent but no less troubling concern is Iran's escalating patronage for militias in Iraq that are hostile to the U.S. and its allies. Of course Tehran says that it has "absolutely nothing to do with" the fighting and dying in Iraq. Yet there is a long list of incidents that says the mullahs and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are deeply engaged in their neighboring country. For instance, the world has been aware for some time that weapons and munitions used to kill and wound U.S. troops and their coalition allies in Iraq have Tehran's stamp on them. Iran has also twice taken British sailors and marines hostage in the Persian Gulf. On another front, who knows when the mullahs will arrange for Hezbollah to storm into West-friendly Israel through Lebanon, or Hamas to elevate its pinprick approach toward Israel from its recently seized base in Gaza? And lest anyone forget, Tehran is hellbent on developing nuclear weapons — another tool to bully its neighbors, destroy the Jewish state and blackmail the West. The regime has repeatedly said that it will not back down from its goal — which it insists, disingenuously, is to produce nuclear-powered electricity for the country. Iran's belligerence leaves a lot to be alarmed about. So does the civilized world's cavalier attitude toward the problem. Much of Europe seems resigned to having no choice but to live in a world with a nuclear-armed Islamofascist state that has dark ambitions. Why else would the EU allow European companies to invest in Iran's oil industry as they have in recent years? As counterintuitive as it might seem, though, the oil weapon in the Middle East is actually held by the West — if it would only notice — and not Tehran. By all accounts, Iran's oil industry is the Sick Man of the region. It is suffering from a crumbling infrastructure in need of investment. Last year the National Academy of Sciences reported that the industry, which provides the Iranian government with 70% of its revenues, had a dire shortage of capital. Though the world is almost desperate for crude, now is the time to choke the regime in Tehran. The West needs to focus on squeezing its capacity for funding terrorism, its nuclear weapons project, regional meddling — and its very existence. With a little resolve, a coalition of the willing could block Iran's oil export routes. Destroying its oil industry infrastructure, another step further, is an alternative that shouldn't be taken off the table. A global boycott of Iranian oil with no risk of bloodshed is obviously the ideal path. But the aforementioned investment by companies from the EU makes it clear that that approach would have little chance of success. Whatever is done needs to be done soon. Iran is a festering sore, and it is showing signs that it could erupt at any time. It will soon have nuclear weapons. To wait until then to take action would be to wait too long. It's better to jump through the open window as it's closing than to have to break it from the outside. ibdeditorials.com