Reported Iranian Involvement in 9/11 an Act of War

COMMENTARY | A federal judge in New York is about to issue a ruling that concludes that Iran bears legal responsibility for providing material support for the 9/11 attacks, according to the Daily Caller. If so, Iran has committed an act of war against the United States.

It seems Iran allowed some of the hijackers to travel from Saudi Arabia to al-Qaida training camps in Afghanistan on their Saudi passports without having to have Iranian or Afghan entry stamps. This is crucial because they would have been refused entry into the United States had those stamps been on their passports.

There is also evidence that Iran knew about and supported the 9/11 attacks in advance.

It is unknown what practical effect that the judge's ruling will have. While the U.S. did go to war against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan for supporting the 9/11 attacks, there seems to be no stomach for dealing with the theocracy in Iran in kind. This is despite evidence that Iran has been supporting insurgents in both Iraq and Afghanistan, providing IEDs that have murdered and maimed American soldiers. The recent assassination attempt of the Saudi ambassador on American soil is also an act of war by all understanding of the term.

The U.S. would be within its rights to demand that Iranian officials involved in assisting the 9/11 hijackers be turned over for trial on war crimes. Failing that, the United States would have the right to declare war and to move to overthrow the Iranian government.

Mind, this would not necessarily mean a ground invasion with hundreds of thousands of troops, with air strikes and naval bombardment. But Iran has an active opposition movement. Support for that movement through covert means to topple the Iranian regime would certainly be an appropriate and measured response. The Obama administration has already created a precedence by helping Libyan rebels and NATO forces topple the Moammar Gadhafi regime in Libya.

In any event, despite the yammering of Ron Paul, Iran's quest for nuclear weapons constitutes a clear and present danger to the civilized world. Effecting regime change is the only certain way to forestall a nuclear Iran and all that implies.

Source: Federal judge: Iran shares responsibility for 9/11 terror attacks, Ken Tinnerman, The Daily Caller, Dec 16, 2011