‘Fire alarms’ over Iran, nuclear weapons threat

Re “A fire alarm in Iran,” editorial, Dec. 21

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a Holocaust-denying kook. His government has no nuclear weapons although it may be trying to develop them.

The U.S. president lied to Congress and the American people, then invaded a sovereign nation and believes that it’s OK to detain American citizens without charges, to spy on Americans without warrants and to torture detainees. He has about 5,000 active nuclear warheads at his disposal.

Israel, meanwhile, denies that it has the hundreds of nuclear warheads it, in fact, possesses, along with the capability to deliver them anywhere in the region. It has yet to sign the treaty on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons and repeatedly has put the brakes on the International Atomic Energy Agency’s efforts to make the Middle East a nuclear-weapons-free zone.

Tell me again: Who should the U.N. be ready to sanction?

SARAH S. FORTH

Los Angeles

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As the grandson of a Holocaust survivor, I am encouraged to see much of the international community uniting to confront the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran. However, the Tehran regime’s rogue behavior should have set off global “fire alarms” a long time ago. Iranian-sponsored Hezbollah -- linked to deadly attacks from Lebanon to Argentina -- stands second only to Al Qaeda as a terrorist group responsible for American deaths. Islamic Jihad, also supported by Iran, has repeatedly thwarted Middle East peace.

Evidence shows serious Iranian meddling in Iraq’s affairs. Iran is a key practitioner of tyranny and oppression in the Muslim world. This alarm has been blaring for quite some time.

DAVID J. MICHAELS

Washington

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Re “Firebrand? He’s nuts and he’s after nukes,” Opinion, Nov. 22

Jonah Goldberg’s cry of alarm at the threat posed by Iran rings a little hollow. His credibility in this area is compromised by his history as a strident cheerleader for the U.S. invasion of Iraq. That colossal blunder has immeasurably strengthened Iran’s hand and increased the peril that Goldberg now decries.

LEN GARDNER

Laguna Woods