OPINION:
Despite more sanctions and optimism for peaceful solutions, according to some, our time is running out to pre-empt a nuclear attack by Iran against our forces in the Middle East, Israel and the free world.
Since sanctions are not really working against Iran, hopeful talk aside, Iran’s nuclear buildup continues unabated. Before Tehran can launch its nuclear weapons, a balanced pre-emptive strike with “shock and awe” is the last good option left to America.
A pre-emptive operation has to consist of main strike sorties with reconnaissance, electronic suppression, refueling, air-sea rescue readiness and overhead air-defense support. The target list must include all nuclear installations in Iran to ensure complete destruction. Each target would have multiple aiming points, each point requiring a weapon of commensurate power, with some possible follow-up strikes, until bomb-damage assessments could show target obliteration. The support sorties for the operation would target the early-warning and acquisition radar systems for surface-to-air missiles, destroy specific SAMs, about 2,000 anti-aircraft guns and operational aircraft in Iran’s air force supplied by Russia and China, along with the 45 older F-14s, modified F-5s, Mirages, F-4s and others.
Liberal armchair strategists, supported by Democratic members of Congress, oppose a balanced military response to Iran’s nuclear buildup and claim that although sanctions are not working, the only option left to America is a small overnight strike like the September 2007 attack carried out by the Israeli air force against the nuclear reactor that Syria’s Assad regime imported from North Korea. Proponents of the liberal view mistakenly claim that a professional and balanced military operation would cause thousands of casualties on the ground, but they are not taking into account our state-of-the-art target acquisition systems and precise laser-guided weapons. At the same time, the multibillion-dollar defense budget cuts proposed by the Obama administration - to include 80,000 Army troops, 20,000 Marines and 10,000 Air Force personnel - along with many weapons and research programs, are badly timed and detrimental.
LT. COL. DOMINIK GEORGE NARGELE
U.S. Marines, retired
Arlington
