Letter to the editor: Thanks, Obama

OPINION:

That the Obama administration suppressed Iranian nuclear secrets comes as no surprise, but Bill Gertz’s article highlights the fact that we really do not know whether Iran has nuclear weapons (“Obama suppressed Iran nuclear intel to get deal, U.S. counterspy says,” web, Aug. 28).

A decade or so ago, the Israelis leaked that Iran was in the process of assembling 50 nuclear warheads with everything but the uranium cores. The warheads were a tested North Korean design and worse, a size that could be mounted on medium-range ballistic missiles. Since then, Iran has fielded hundreds of new missiles, most of which could be fitted with nukes. And it has continued to refine uranium to levels it claimed were required for its Soviet-designed reactor.

We know Iran has massive underground nuclear facilities on military bases, but no one is allowed to see them. It is notable that such inspections were not required by then-President Barack Obama’s Iran deal. The harsh truth is that Mr. Obama and President Biden have opened the door to a nuclear-armed Iran.

Events of the past year take on a much darker interpretation when viewed though this lens. We know Iran has the missile delivery systems operational. Thanks to Israel, we are also pretty sure it has a tested nuclear design and shell warheads. We know it had enrichment facilities and refused to allow inspection, and we know Iran is behind the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and the Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.

Iran launched an attack on Israel with a sampling of virtually every missile and cruise missile in its arsenal. The attack was dismissed as pathetic by Western media, but one has to assume it was a probe to test Israel’s Iron Dome defense system and see which, if any, Iranian missiles could get through.

The pressing question ignored by the Democrats and the mainstream media is, would Iran have launched these attacks without its own nuclear weapons? I can’t believe the answer is yes.

JAMES BARENDS

Wayne, Pennsylvania