Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: Iran also a problem

Friday, Dec. 20, 2002 | 9:26 a.m.

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH is on target when describing Saddam Hussein as a bad guy with evil intentions. Our president has good reason to look askance at Saddam's claim that he isn't hiding terrible weapons. We now must hope that U.N. inspectors can uncover any weapons that pose a threat to Iraq's neighbors and our military forces.

Some critics of our concentration on Saddam say they are worried it's getting in the way of the hunt for the people who planned and triggered 9-11. I don't have enough inside information to judge how the hunt for Al-Qaeda is progressing. Every now and then we do learn that another of its members has been captured or killed. So something is happening in this war against terrorism.

What does worry me is the balancing act we are doing with Iran. Our diplomats have good reason to hope that the people of that country will eventually succeed in reforming their government. What we should be concerned about is just how long the hard-liners will tolerate the attempts by the younger generation to experience greater political freedom. Just about the time the reformists appear to make progress, greater numbers of demonstrators land in jail.

It's difficult to figure out exactly who is leading in the dance of U.S. and Iranian diplomats. Last month a story in USA Today told readers that Iran and the U.S. are discussing cooperation if, and when, a war with Iraq starts. Exactly what role Iran would play hasn't been revealed. It would probably be like the role we allowed Syria to play in the first Gulf War.

Syria sent several thousand troops to the Gulf War, but President Assad wouldn't allow them to enter Iraq. During this same time period, Syria refused to allow U.S. planes to fly over its territory. When the war ended Syria was rewarded with $5 billion from Saudi Arabia, which it used for more modern weapons.

Today we know that Iran's government hasn't changed its ways in support of terrorism and arming enemies of our country. Remember all of the trouble Iranian fighters in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina caused NATO soldiers attempting to bring peace to that area? That goes back several years, but the ship Karine A. captured in the Red Sea was only 12 months ago. It was loaded with tons of mortar rounds, antitank missiles, C-4 explosives and Katyusha rockets for Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority.

For several years, Iran has supplied deadly weapons for Hezbollah to terrorize Israelis living along the border of Lebanon. Hezbollah in recent months has also included Americans in its list of enemies. A recent Near East Report tells readers:

"With Iranian and Syrian assistance, Hezbollah has amassed an arsenal of 8,000 to 10,000 rockets in the territory it controls in southern Lebanon. While most of these are short-range Katyushas, several hundred are Iranian-made Fajr-5 rockets capable of hitting targets up to 40 miles away. This places the entire northern third of Israel at risk. There have been unconfirmed reports that Iran has tested a chemical warhead for the Fajr-5."

Adding to this are recently released satellite photos that show the new nuclear power reactor at Bushehr, Iran. It should be in full operation no later than the end of next year. At the same time, that country has successfully tested their Fateh A-110 surface-to-surface missile, which travels 130 miles with a longer-range missile in the works.

As I have written before, the late President Richard M. Nixon in his book "Beyond Peace" recommended that "our strategy toward Iran should be to contain its influence inside and outside the Persian Gulf." He saw Iran as having "turned state-sponsored terrorism into a science."

That warning shouldn't be forgotten.