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February 2, 2007 > Opinion > Letter to the Editor

Letter to the Editor

By | Thresher Editorial Staff

Columnist mistaken on Iranian threat

To the editor:

Allegations regarding shadowy worldwide corporate cabals and whodunit 9/11 conspiracy theories detract from the real issues surrounding Iran and its stated goal of developing nuclear weapons. Make no mistake: Iran’s nuclear program is very real. According to Al Jazeera, Iranian officials recently announced, “the country was moving towards large-scale enrichment involving 3,000 centrifuges.” Do not think that the United States is alone in its trepidations regarding Iran. Last month the United Nations Security Council unanimously voted to sanction Iran after it ignored requests to halt uranium enrichment.

In his column, Dan Abrahamson claimed “Iran is not a third-rate military power like Iraq” (“Cheney cronies ‘double-down’ for more war,” Jan. 26). Contrary to this statement, Iraq had the largest and most sophisticated military in the Middle East minus Israel before its destruction during the Gulf Wars. During the Iran-Iraq War, only Saddam Hussein’s military incompetence and the Ayatollah’s suicide brigades known as the Revolutionary Guard, throwing themselves in human waves against the Iraqis, prevented an Iraqi victory.

Even if the Iranians were nine years away from a functional nuclear bomb, would it be better to nip such a dangerous situation in the bud or within a decade have a second North Korea? The president of Iran has stated, “God willing … we shall soon experience a world without the United States and Zionism.” If the situation avails itself, the only way we will be able to prevent the unleashing of “nuclear Armageddon” is to deal with Iran now, rather than leaving a radical nuclear-armed Iran for posterity.

Frederick Ou

Lovett senior

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