Turkish Ambassador to U.S. Calls Iran "a threat to Turkey as well as to the U.S."
By Andrew Cochran
Doug Farah and I talked about his post on Hezbollah and clarified that Hezbollah might be the premier non-state terrorist threat. After all, Hezbollah's support and the extent of its direction from the current Iranian regime is massive. Two years ago, I wrote here about my discussions with a senior Western intelligence service official, who estimated Iran's direct financial support to Hezbollah at $100 million, and that was when oil was less than half of the current price. I assume that amount has not been decreased. Those ties now constitute a dagger aimed at the freedom of entire countries - Lebanon and Israel in the Middle East - as well as a threat to the U.S.
Anyone wondering whether the threat posed by Iran is "tiny" or substantial should ponder what the Ambassador from Turkey to the U.S. said today at our panel on the Turkey-U.S. relationship. Ambassador Nahi Sensoy said that Iran has run "clandestine (nuclear) programs for more than two decades," and those programs are "a threat to Turkey as well as to the U.S." Granted, Turkey's method of dealing with that threat includes diplomatic engagement with Iran - the two have not been at war with each other since 1639 - but the Turkish government clearly recognizes that the size of Iran's military is not of critical importance in the age of asymmetric warfare.
(UPDATE, May 20: Here is a story about the panel by CQ Homeland Security.
The first necessity in designing a national security policy is have a clear-eyed view of the threats and opportunities, the allies and potential foes. To brush away Iran's potential for deploying nuclear technology, either on its own or through its terrorist proxies, is to ignore the strategic goals clearly expressed by Iranian leaders: the destruction of the State of Israel and the strategic defeat of the U.S.