Iran-Venezuela Axis

Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau has undertaken the unusual step of writing an op-ed piece warning of the growing relationship between Iran and Venezuela. Morgenthau believes that Iran is interested in using Venezuela to launder money to purchase materials for its nuclear and missile programs, while Iran supports Venezuela's efforts to overthrow pro-American regimes and replace with Chavez-oriented dictatorships.

Remarkably for a district attorney, Morgenthau adds that law enforcement alone is not sufficient to deal with this threat, and he is no doubt correct.

But let me add what I suspect may be another long-term goal of the Iran-Venezuela axis. Caracas is less than 2,150 miles from New York and 1,400 miles from Miami. If Iran deployed the ballistic missiles it is developing, armed with nuclear weapons, to Venezuela, it would confront the United States with a direct, credible nuclear threat against the continental United States.

Every so often, a Chinese general will publicly ask, "will America sacrifice Los Angeles to protect Taiwan?" Someday Iran can ask, "will America sacrifice Miami to protect Israel or Saudi Arabia?"

If Barack Obama does not deal with the nuclear threat from Iran decisively with a military attack, it will be one of the greatest disasters in American foreign policy history.