Pay No Attention To Iran's 'Secret' Nuclear Plant

The liberal Left has long been claiming that Iran wasn't doing anything wrong, illegal, or improper with their nuke program...but now they've been busted:

President Obama and the leaders of France and Britain blasted Iran's construction of a previously unacknowledged uranium enrichment facility and demanded Friday that Tehran immediately fulfill its obligations under international law or risk the imposition of harsh new sanctions.

"Iran is breaking rules that all nations must follow," Obama said, detailing how the facility near Qom had been under construction for years without being disclosed, as required, to the International Atomic Energy Agency. "International law is not an empty promise."

While I'm glad that Obama actually spoke out about Iran's second nuke plant, I suspect he's going to go the wrong way with it, begging even harder for talks rather than leading the world in a crackdown.  Here are some of the festive details:

The new Iranian plant, the country's second uranium enrichment facility, is believed by U.S. officials to be part of a broad effort by Iran's leadership to pursue the ability to build nuclear weapons. Iran has repeatedly denied having any such goal, insisting that its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity. U.S. officials said they believe the Qom plant is not yet operational but is intended to produce highly enriched uranium -- suitable for nuclear weapons -- and will be capable within months of producing enough material for at least one bomb per year.

But we're not the only ones who are concerned:

In an appearance with Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy Friday morning, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called the Iranian nuclear program "the most urgent proliferation challenge that the world faces today" and accused Iran of "serial deception" over many years. He said the level of Iran's deception and the scale of its breach of international commitments "will shock and anger the whole international community, and it will harden our resolve."

Now, here's where it gets interesting:

But White House officials said Western intelligence agencies have known about the facility for several years and believe that Iran acknowledged its existence Monday in an attempt to head off intense criticism that they knew was coming.

"We believe that the Iranians learned that the secrecy of the facility had been compromised," a senior White House official said Friday morning. "We've been aware of this facility for several years, building up a case so that we had very strong evidence."

Several years??  What were we waiting for?  And how many other 'secret' nuke plants does Iran have?  Answer: 10-15.  Here are some more details worth considering:

On Friday, [French President Sarkozy] said Iran is "taking the international community on a dangerous path." He said the plant near Qom, a Shiite Muslim holy city about 100 miles southwest of Tehran, was "designed and built over the past several years in direct violation" of Security Council and IAEA resolutions, and he demanded "an exhaustive, strict and rigorous investigation" by the nuclear watchdog agency.

Referring to an upcoming meeting in Geneva between representatives of Iran and six world powers, Sarkozy said, "Everything, everything, must be put on the table now. We cannot let the Iranian leaders gain time while the motors are running." If there is no "in-depth change" on Iran's part by December, "sanctions will have to be taken," he said.

Okay, two thoughts here.  First: why are we waiting for months before taking action on this?  Iran has been playing this game for years -- if not decades -- to buy time, and the weak-kneed responses by the international community has allowed them to progress to within mere months of making nuclear weapons.  Have we learned nothing by watching all this play out?  Apparently not.  Then there's this:

Noting that Tehran previously has concealed information about its nuclear program, Obama said: "Iran has a right to peaceful nuclear power that meets the energy needs of its people. But the size and configuration of this facility is inconsistent with a peaceful program." He accused Iran of "endangering the global nonproliferation regime, denying its own people access to the opportunity they deserve and threatening the stability and security of the region and the world."

The Iranian government "must now demonstrate through deeds its peaceful intentions or be held accountable to international standards and international law," he said.

Whoa, whoa, whoa...!  Mr. President, why does Iran have a 'right to peaceful nuclear power', but we don't?  You and your party have been killing nuclear power in America for decades!  If anyone needed further proof of Obama's domestic energy policy being 100% purely politically driven, this is it.  Furthermore, what happens if Iran doesn't 'demonstrate through deeds its peaceful intentions'?  Who's going to enforce those international standards and laws?  Up until now, the United States has been the backbone of every major enforcement action in recent memory, and the only nation with the means and might to enforce any action anywhere, but under Obama's leadership, that backbone has suddenly gone completely limp.  Now that he's directing U.S. foreign policy, Iran has literally no deterrent to continuing its nuclear weapon program.

So what about Israel?  Will they make another surgical strike to take out this facility like they did a couple years ago with Syria's?  It would be extremely problematic for one huge, huge reason: it's near Qom.  This is a holy city, and any attack here would likely incite incredible blind wrath from Muslims all over the world.  But who knows...maybe they'll risk it.

No matter how you slice it, this situation is rapidly becoming untenable from any number of angles.  And, unfortunately, with Barack Obama and his groveling foreign policy performing a self-castration procedure on the only nation that could enforce anything on this radical Islamic regime, I have a feeling that it will end very, very badly.  Let's just hope the mushroom clouds don't appear over our soil.

There's my two cents.