The French Connection and Iran's Nukes

Underscoring the danger of nukes in the hands of Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, French President Nicolas Sarkozy told the United Nations on Tuesday that nuclear power in the hands of Iran would bring the world to the brink of war.

Sarkozy wasted no time in heading for the jugular in his assessment of the threat posed by nukes in the hands of a state sponsor of terror that has expressed the desire for Israel's demise.

In stark contrast to the policies and rhetoric employed by the French under the leadership of Jacques Chirac, the Sarkozy government appears to take much more of a realistic approach to the Middle East powder-keg.

Ahmadinejad's saber-rattling has become a staple of his Presidency, and Sarkozy takes it seriously. Nukes in the hands of the Iranians not only would be a threat to Israel but to much of Europe as well.

Apparently the U.S. is in full agreement with Sarkozy's assessment. Sources close to the Pentagon state that the U.S. has been secretly drawing up plans for targeted air strikes against Iranian facilities suspected of building the bombs.

These strikes would not be an all-out invasion, nor would any ground troops be necessary to accomplish the mission of destroying Iran's ability to develop nuclear power. In addition, such strikes would send Iran a signal that the U.S. intends to address Iran's threat to the surge in Iraq.

By destroying Iran's nuclear power-plants and key military-industrial facilities, along with cutting off the supply lines of insurgents flowing from Iran to Iraq, the U.S. would make it clear that it intends to cripple and dismantle one of its key roadblocks to success in the Iraqi campaign.

The present climate in French politics provides a golden opportunity for the Bush Administration to repair the strained relations between the two countries as a result of decades of an adversarial Jacques Chirac.

Not only can the U.S. repair its relations with the French and reclaim France as a key ally, but the two nations can conduct a joint operation to address the Iranian threat. A successful venture in this regard could bring a return to the U.S.-French connection on the world stage.