As I write this, the big headline on the Drudge Report screams that Iran is sending warships to patrol off the coast of the USA. The news story in question reports that Iran has dispatched a destroyer and a helicopter carrier to patrol off the American east coast. While this may seem like it is not very important, one needs to look at the story through a longer time line.
Right now, an Iranian destroyer could be wiped out by American forces in a few minutes. If there were hostilities, the Iranians could get off a few shots at targets on land, but they could not do much damage. Now consider that we change one fact: assume that Iran has nuclear weapons. We know that the Iranians have the capability to produce nukes in just a few months at most even after president Obama's deal with Teheran that supposedly has halted (but not reversed) development. Imagine that an Iranian destroyer off the east coast launches four relatively short range missiles, one each for New York, Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia. America's missile defense system is not designed for attacks from just off shore in the Atlantic. If Iran keeps sending destroyers or other ships that could carry missiles to points a few hundred miles off the coast, we will never know if some day soon, those ships are carrying nukes. To be clear, the actual significance of the Iranian ships off our coast is not as a current threat; rather, this is a message from the ayatollahs that some day very soon they will be able to threaten the USA in a way that is much more serious than all but a few folks currently expect.
I just wish we had a president who could stop this threat rather than one who only talks but then does nothing to back up his words.
Right now, an Iranian destroyer could be wiped out by American forces in a few minutes. If there were hostilities, the Iranians could get off a few shots at targets on land, but they could not do much damage. Now consider that we change one fact: assume that Iran has nuclear weapons. We know that the Iranians have the capability to produce nukes in just a few months at most even after president Obama's deal with Teheran that supposedly has halted (but not reversed) development. Imagine that an Iranian destroyer off the east coast launches four relatively short range missiles, one each for New York, Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia. America's missile defense system is not designed for attacks from just off shore in the Atlantic. If Iran keeps sending destroyers or other ships that could carry missiles to points a few hundred miles off the coast, we will never know if some day soon, those ships are carrying nukes. To be clear, the actual significance of the Iranian ships off our coast is not as a current threat; rather, this is a message from the ayatollahs that some day very soon they will be able to threaten the USA in a way that is much more serious than all but a few folks currently expect.
I just wish we had a president who could stop this threat rather than one who only talks but then does nothing to back up his words.
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