CBS Charlotte: South Carolina U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham says he’s convinced that Syrian President Assad used chemical weapons on his own people.This is just so wildly absurd, you really don’t know where to start. Let’s try the old tired and stupid “Iran could give nukes to terrorists” scare; no, Iran would not give nukes to terrorists. Ever. Why? Because the sort of terrorists Graham has in mind are unstable and unpredictable cultists who have no allegiance to nations. Handing them a nuke is handing a nuke to a potential enemy. The government of Iran is neither crazy nor stupid, so they’re going to keep any nukes under tight control.
Graham told reporters in Goose Creek on Tuesday that taking action against Syria in response to the situation is not a question of yes or no, but rather a question of bad or worse choices.
He says if there is no U.S. response, Iran will not believe America’s resolve to block Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Graham also says those nuclear weapons in the hands of terrorists could result in a bomb coming to Charleston Harbor.
And of course, there’s the little fact that Iran doesn’t actually have any nukes. And the idea that their nuclear research is for nuclear weapons is a matter of some debate. In fact, the Ayatollah — i.e., Iran’s “Supreme Leader” — has said that using nuclear weapons is a “big and unforgiveable sin.” So the “Iran is developing nuclear weapons” idea is entirely theoretical at this point.
Finally, assuming we could “block” anyone from developing nuclear weapons (North Korea, anyone?), what Iran thinks of our resolve would be irrelevant. In that scenario, they’d underestimate us and then we’d block their nuke program. Besides, which is more likely to pop into the Iranian leadership’s minds; the time we didn’t launch a limited strike against Syria or that one time we leveled Baghdad because Bush wanted to store up on “political capital?” If Iran needs proof that we’re freakin’ crazy enough to start swinging, I doubt that Syria is where they’d look to find back up for that assessment. We’ve got a long and dark history of jacking around with the lives of people in the middle east — a history that Iran is well aware of.
So if Graham really wants to make his case, he’s going to have to do a lot better than fearmongering fairy tales about Persian nukes in Charleston. Then again, as a neocon, he may not know any other way.
[photo via Wikimedia Commons]
