Nuclear Iran Is an Exaggerated Threat | Malou Innocent and Jonathan Owen | Cato Institute: Commentary

Nuclear Iran Is an Exaggerated Threat | Malou Innocent and Jonathan Owen | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'James Clapper, U.S. director of national intelligence, said an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities would set back its nuclear program by one to two years. U.S. military action every few years is an unmanageable strategy.

Worse, attempts to stop Iran’s program militarily will bolster its resolve to pursue a nuclear deterrent. Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said the military solution will make Iranians “absolutely committed to obtaining nuclear weapons.” He continued, “... they will just go deeper and more covert.”'

'As nuclear expert Joseph Cirincione of the Ploughshares Fund has argued, Iran might decide, like Japan and other countries, to have only the ability to produce a nuclear weapon fast — in short, a rapid breakout option.'