Previously unbeknownst to the public, last year the American government may have pushed the world dangerously close to the final minute on the infamous Doomsday Clock. After WWII, scientists came up with the rating system, fashioned after the 12 hour clock, to gauge the threat level of nuclear catastrophe. In January, the scientists recalculated it closer to world catastrophe at three minutes to midnight; the hour of destruction. Had they known then what we are finding out today, they would probably have set the clock to one minute to midnight. This new calculation may fairly be derived from an insane departure from our established foreign policy towards our only Middle Eastern ally Israel that has in resulted treating our ally more as an outright enemy.
A short time-line of developments leading up to this policy debacle would help to highlight its insanity.
From 2003 to 2008, Iran played cat and mouse with UN inspectors while they pursued uranium enrichment with the stated goal of developing a nuclear bomb to destroy Israel. By 2009, nuclear experts become convinced that Iran has enough enriched material to produce at least one warhead, and in September of the same year Iran test fires long range missiles.
In 2010, many geopolitical analysts were certain that Israel was poised to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities in order to prevent them from achieving the necessary readiness required to assemble and deliver a nuclear bomb. The tension was palpable, and many were sure that at any time news reports would be headlined by an airstrike by Israel on Iran facilities.
But with a twist that could have come straight out of a best-selling spy thriller, a computer virus identified as Stuxnet began infecting the computers as the Iranian nuclear facilities. Although that was a significant setback to the program, by February then leader Ahmadinejad bragged about their increased enrichment capabilities.
In 2012, even the European Union was exercising financial sanctions on Iran, but Iran goes on undeterred with their nuclear program; using secret facilities and limiting inspector’s access to the ones known to exist. Iran continues undeterred in reaching towards nuclear bomb production, and delivery.
By 2014, commentators again expect Israel to act to take out the nuclear threat, and are surprised when the year ends with no strike taking place. The United States and the EU have entered into secret negotiations with Iran on their nuclear program that provide for no assurances that Iran will not develop a nuclear weapon; and these negotiations exclude the party that would be first and foremost at risk of the devastation resulting in an Iranian nuclear bomb: Israel.
This is an overly simple time-line to get us to today, and today’s’ bombshell news headline:
Reports are emerging that Israel did in fact determine that if it was to be successful in stopping the development of a bomb it had to strike Iranian nuclear weapons facilities in 2014, and it planned to do so. However, former US diplomat Zbigniew Brzezinski, former security advisor to president Carter, called on Obama to turn back or shoot down the Israeli jets that would need to enter Iraqi air space—then controlled by U.S. forces—on their way to Iran.
The reports certainly require more verification, but they are being vetted by none other than Matt Drudge’s Drudge Report, and as of today they were confident enough to run with the breaking news as a headline. Has President Obama and his State Department betrayed Israel?
