The Qom Iranian Nuke Facility

From Tom Barnett:
" 'I am shocked! Shocked to find out there's gambling going on in this institution!'
--'Colonel, your enriched uranium.'
'Ah yes. Round up the usual suspects!'

Bet on Iran having already set up the sites where they'll continue enrichment AFTER Israel bombs them."

TW: Iran is pursuing nukes. We know this and have known this for a long time. It is logical for them to do so. One can think of many reasons why WE would not want them to have them but not so many as to why THEY would not want them. Their nuke program is not an Ahmedinejad initiative it is a national Iranian goal with widespread public support. I am highly skeptical that the international community will support sufficiently robust sanctions to deter the Iranians. I am also highly skeptical that the U.S. and other nations will use military force to stop the Iranians. Furthermore, I believe use of force would be ineffective in stopping their drive towards nukes unless applied in an overwhelming fashion of the sort likely not feasible (i.e. surgical air strikes would not get it done, casualties on both sides would be high).

The right-wing in the U.S. will use this likely evolution to claim Obama and the Dems are weak. There is a big difference between weak and simple-minded. The price we would rationally pay to prevent their acquisition of nukes is lower than the price they would rationally pay to obtain them. And if the world can live with Pakistani nukes, we can live with Iranian nukes.

From Economist:
"Victor David Hanson has produced a predictably unhinged rant in response to the revelation that Iran has a nuclear-enrichment plant that it has been keeping secret...

But ignoring Mr Hanson's many faulty arguments, his frustration is justified. As an anonymous administration official says in the Times, "They have cheated three times...So what now? Well, I think Mr Hanson gets this part right when he says that "there is nothing the international community can or will do about Iran's road to a small arsenal of nukes." Sanctions will be mulled and then, possibly, passed. Iran may even agree to stricter inspections. But we've been there before, and now we're here.

What other options do we have? A bombing campaign (whether carried out by America or Israel) might set back Iran's programme, but only briefly, and even then it might speed it up. A change in government may not produce the wanted results—even Mir Hossein Mousavi wasn't willing to give up Iran's nuclear programme. Short of invading and occupying the country (a terrible option and an impossibility with America's military currently overstretched), the one thing the West can do is make the journey to nuclear-bomb capacity as painful as possible for Iran...But ultimately it will be Iran's decision whether to take the final steps on that journey, and the West's capacity to stop it is rather limited. So forgive Mr Hanson for lashing out. That's what one does in a helpless situation."
http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2009/09/how_do_you_solve_a_problem_lik.cfm