U.S. Must Stop Iran from Developing Nuclear Weapons
By David Holcberg

Gerhard Schroder's suggestion to "take the military option off the table" in dealing with Iran's advancing nuclear program should be dismissed. No amount of "negotiations" and "incentives" will persuade the Iranian mullahs to give up their quest for nuclear weapons.

Iran's claim that their reactors will be used for civilian purposes is absurd. Iran has more oil to generate electricity than it could possibly consume. Moreover, Iran's desire to destroy the United States (the "Great Satan") has been made clear by more than two decades of "Death to America" chanting in state-controlled mosques.

The Iranian mullahs are ideologically committed to spreading Islam throughout the world by force, and they will not abandon their murderous goal for political "concessions" or financial aid. Even the threat of war against Iran is unlikely to stop the mullahs from developing nuclear weapons. Deterrence only works against those who value their own lives. As the hordes of Islamic fanatics who blew themselves up in recent years have amply demonstrated, these people value death, not life. We can't risk our existence on the mullahs being an exception.

Iran is an avowed enemy of the United States and a major state sponsor of terrorism. It finances, trains, shelters and equips terrorists from organizations like Al-Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad. Iran is currently waging a proxy war against the United States in Iraq and killing American soldiers by the dozens.

Once Iran gets hold of nuclear weapons, the United States will be an easy target for blackmail and a likely target for mass destruction. We cannot let that happen.