February 21-2014
. . . stands tough
Sen. Ted Cruz said last Thursday that President Obama should end talks with Iran, demand it give up its entire nuclear program immediately and use military force if the country doesn’t give in.
A “responsible president,” the Texas Republican told a conference, “would stand up and say unequivocally, in terms that allow no confusion, ‘Under no circumstances will the nation of Iran be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapons capability, and they will either halt now or we will use every step necessary including direct military force to stop them.’”
Actually, Obama has said repeatedly that he will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon even if that requires resorting to military force. Cruz appeared not to know that.
Cruz also said the United States should arm Israel with so-called “bunker buster” bombs capable of destroying Iran’s nuclear plants deep below the surface of the earth. ”At a very minimum,” the first-term senator said, “we should be making available bunker busters to Israel. If Israel is going to be forced to defend itself, it should have the tools to effectively eliminate this program.”
Israel has not been provided the newest and largest bunker-buster bomb in the US inventory, but it has been sold older bunker-busters. Cruz did not appear to know that either.
Cruz called the interim agreement that took effect last month “a very, very bad deal and an historic mistake” and a lethal threat to Israel. Instead of “appeasement,” Cruz said, “we should act against an enemy of the United States.”
He said, “The threat of a nuclear Iran is the gravest national security threat to the United States of America in the world,” adding that he believes the minute Iran builds a bomb, it will use it against Israel, Los Angeles or New York. “That threat, I think, is enormous.” And, just as bad, he said, is the potential for Iran to share the technology with terrorist groups or Muslim foes of Israel.
