Clenched Around Nukes... Still

Don’t let upheaval detract from nuclear crisis:

The civil unrest in Iran is creating the most serious challenge to the Islamic fundamentalist regime to date. If the primary aim of the bloodied demonstrators is to unseat Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and replace him with Mir Hossein Mousavi, their success will be of little consequence to the matter most concerning the West: Iran’s determined effort to develop nuclear weapons. Although Mousavi would like to be viewed as a “moderate,” he is no less intent than Ahmadinejad in establishing Iran’s nuclear supremacy in the region. In fact, serious nuclear development was initiated under his leadership when he was the prime minister.

Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of international terrorism. Iran funds, trains, and supplies terror groups, including Hizbullah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and insurgents in Iraq. The State of Israel is not the primary target of Iran and its proxies; Israel is really the West’s first line of defense. By combining its nuclear capability and its existing ballistic missile know-how (already capable of targeting American troops in the Middle East and parts of Europe), Iran could have a devastating impact on us and our allies. A nuclear Iran would destabilize pro-Western Arab states and would spur a regional nuclear arms race.