Let Iran Go Nuclear

In his May 10 column, “All things not considered,” Barry Rubin argues that even if Iran doesn’t fire nuclear weapons at anyone, and even if it doesn’t intend to, just its having nukes is enough reason for the world to stop it from getting them. Rubin describes some of the horrific scenarios that could arise from Iran’s going nuclear, insisting that the “complacent, conventional wisdom, containment-is-no-problem mainstream” has never come to grips with them.

Alright. First of all, in Israel and the US, at least, the argument for containment – that it’s safer and saner to deter Iran’s prospective nukes than to start a war to pre-empt their manufacture – is anything but conventional wisdom.

Furthermore, it’s not a complacent approach; complacency implies doing nothing, and containment means the nuclear powers have to make sure their arsenals stay prohibitively superior to Iran’s. We’re talking eternal vigilance here. But Rubin raises some interesting questions, and maybe he’s right that nobody in the containment camp has ever answered them; I know I haven’t in writing, so now I’m going to try.