Amidst all the ruckus over Trump’s typically glorious “norm-breaking” proposal to move Palestinians out of Gaza while the strip is rebuilt in to a glorious resort, complete with some U.S. equity position, few people noticed (and no one in the media asked about) a national security directive released on Tuesday regarding Iran that contains the following language:
Iran’s nuclear program, including its enrichment- and reprocessing-related capabilities and nuclear-capable missiles, poses an existential danger to the United States and the entire civilized world. A radical regime like this can never be allowed to acquire or develop nuclear weapons, or to extort the United States or its allies through the threat of nuclear weapons acquisition, development, or use. . . Public reports indicating that Iran may now be engaged in computer modeling related to nuclear weapons development raise immediate alarm. We must deny Iran all paths to a nuclear weapon and end the regime’s nuclear extortion racket. . .
It is the policy of the United States that Iran be denied a nuclear weapon and intercontinental ballistic missiles; that Iran’s network and campaign of regional aggression be neutralized; that the IRGC and its surrogates be disrupted, degraded, or denied access to the resources that sustain their destabilizing activities; and to counter Iran’s aggressive development of missiles and other asymmetric and conventional weapons capabilities.
There follows specific directives to the Treasury Department and the Department of Justice to ratchet up sanctions and other pressure against Iran. Although the Secretary of Defense is included as an addressee to the memorandum, there are no specific instructions or steps mentioned, like preparing military options to destroy Iran’s nuclear program. Maybe this is elsewhere in a longer classified version of the memo.
In any case, one might well surmise that Trump and Netanyahu discussed military options in their meeting on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the media cats are only too happy to chase Trump’s laser pointer to the Gaza Resettlement and Redevelopment Project. Netanyahu certainly looked happy coming out of the meeting and press conference.
The man on the left looks pleased. . .
Maybe this gift had something to do with it. . .
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