ARMAGEDDON

Let’s play “what-if?”. What if, in 1933 or so, the British sent a fleet of bombers to kill Adolf Hitler. And what if they had been successful, BUT there were also several thousand German civilians killed in the collateral damage.

What might have happened? Surely, the other nations of the world would have condemned Britain in every way possible for killing civilians and for essentially assassinating the elected leader of a sovereign nation. Even though, in Hitler’s case, he already published his ideas and plans to expand German territory and to eliminate “inferior” populations by force or starvation.

NOW, in hindsight after more than 30 million people died as a result of Hitler’s fanaticism most people would agree that this “what if” bombing strike, even with the loss of several thousand lives, would have been worth the effort… and the resulting world condemnation.

None of us can predict the future, and we don’t know what would happen if we were to try to change the course of events by assassination or other drastic action. But as rational humans we have to make decisions every day without knowing the future.

Which brings me to my point. If you think Iran is a problem already, and a threat to world peace and it is imagine what it will be like once it has a nuclear arsenal.

The US is engrossed in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and certainly doesn’t want another war. But it was the US’s weakening of Iraq Iran’s arch enemy that has helped strengthen Iran.

Right now, Iran is the single greatest threat to world peace. It is the supplier, trainer and financier for most of the terrorist organizations in the Middle East. “What if”, we are making a mistake by not taking out Iran’s nuclear facilities and its fanatical leadership?

Let’s assume that the US President did order a pre-emptive strike against Iran. It’s certain he would face world condemnation, possibly invoke a war with Iran, and surely incite increased radical Islamic action against the US. No US President wants this on his historical record.

In addition he and his entire party would likely be decimated in the next Presidential and Congressional elections.

So we sit and hope that we are not witnessing the rise of another 3rd Reich OR giant steps towards Armaggedon. I hope I’m wrong about this. I fear I’m not.