Interdiction is the Key to Iran

04/08/2008

Paul Munnis


In most wars countries take sides with the enemy. We saw China align with North Korea in the Korean War for example. We saw Cambodia and China align with North Vietnam in that War as yet another example. Thus it is no surprise that Iran is aiding and helping Iraq insurgents battle in Iraq. In WWII we found countries that did not ally to defeat Germany and we found other nations that were in support of Germany such as Italy and Iceland.

The thing is that we did not go to War with China nor did we go to war with Cambodia or the others in the instances just mentioned. So too, we should not go to War with Iran. The challenge that our forces face is how to defeat the enemy in Iraq even though they are being supplied by Iran.

There are several ways to accomplish this. One is the interdiction of funds that permit the arms to be made or otherwise obtained. The other is to interdict the Iranian supply lines to al Quaeda. Such interdiction can and should be taking place on Iraqi soil. Both our U.S. and Iraqi forces need to be patrolling the Iranian border. Doing so is a better option than permitting the continued flow of arms and munitions to Iraq and that should be a major counter-insurgency priority in Iraq.

Probably a no-mans land of about 10-12 miles needs to be declared along the Iraqi borders. This would include the borders with Syria and Turkey too. Anyone found inside of those borders should be declared a combatant and every attempt should be made to prevent them from delivering weapons and munitions to the insurgents. One would shoot first and ask questions later even though they could be innocent victims attempting to seek a refugee shelter in adjacent countries.

We have drones, helicopters, night vision equipment, and troops. We should use them to interdict the Iranian supply chains. Also, we need to do more to deny Iran the money needed to produce and ship arms to Iraq. This is in the area of diplomacy of course but with the U.S. running the World Bank and having a great deal of power in banking circles this should be a doable task.

We should not be setting out to go to war with Iran because they are producing more nuclear materials. We should however assure they are not supplying such materials to anyone outside of Iran. We should also make sure no fissionable materials are entering Iran especially if they are coming from Russia.

I am hoping that the U.S. government will direct much better border security for Iraq and set up a capability to stop nuclear materials going either into or out of Iran.

What about if Iran manages to build a nuclear weapon? The next thing is they have to test it and the UN should have something to say about that. Also, they need to buy or make delivery systems and we should be discouraging that and also interdicting any imports that abet such a strategy. We should be interdicting their capacity to wage war just as we should have been interdicting the supply of aluminum tubes used by Iran to refine Uranium. That we haven’t done these is an example of the failure of the Bush Administration to do what is needed in the context of Iran. They prefer to wring their hands instead of taking the actions that negate Iran in their supply of arms to Iraqi insurgents and the quest for nuclear fission. When Bush fails at interdiction then we have to look at resources such as the CIA and the Special Forces to get the job done. Why are they ineffective and what must be done to fix the situation?