Iran, of all nations, doesn’t need a nuclear bomb. The only reason they could need one is to extort America out of the region or strike at us defensively, similar to what was demonstrated on 9/11. Our predicament is that Iran is not only intent on getting a bomb, but probably the most likely people in the world to actually use one. We have to do something, but the mission must have a small ideological footprint, one that won’t disturb the balance of power or the insurgency motivation in Iran.

Iran is probably expecting an outright bombing mission where we’d just fly over and attempt to destroy their nuclear capabilities. But a big bombing campaign would further inflame the tension-packed arena in the Middle East right now, and give impetus to more insurgency. The insurgent movement needs reasons to recruit more fighters, and saying that Iran holds the Islamic Bomb is a great poster child for recruitment. So our plan calls for a specific capability that can be deployed quickly and effectively. We’re talking about Special Operations.

We have a lot of teams set to deploy at a moment’s notice. Iran may be thinking we’re stretched thin and we can’t do anything about their ambitions right now, but that’s simply not true. The Battle of the Bulge? That took a serious toll on the American military. The War on Terror doesn’t even come close. Besides, this is an entirely different mission than Iraq. There is no regime change, no democratic concern. Ironically, this is an issue based solely on weapons of mass destruction, where it’s our responsibility to take out specific targets. We have Special Forces for that, and we have a lot of them.

Iran has a centralized location where the enrichment of uranium is going to take place and we know right where that is. There’s no wondering about weapons of mass destruction in Iran, that’s why it will never be another Iraq. We’re going to be focused on one strategic objective, which makes your options very specific. Militarily speaking, this is what we call a ‘neat piece of work.’

Now, from the Iranian’s point of view, the most logical attack would come in the form of an air attack, and I’m not so sure they’re prepared for us on the ground. Frankly, their performance in the Iraq war wasn’t stellar. We’ll take them from the ground. When we go into an enemy-held hostage territory for a specific purpose, whether it’s for destruction of material or personnel, gathering of reconnaissance or, in this case—theft, it’s called a covert raid.

The zone penetration is not too tough—the nuclear installation is pretty isolated from centers of population. But finding a landing zone to insert troops isn’t the real issue: the hardened target is. The nuclear facility is protected against air assault, and it has controlled access. But our Special Ops are well-informed and fast, and we’re specialists at night operations, which the Iranians aren’t. The bottom line is that we’re really good at covert infiltration. If I were an Iranian tasked with securing this facility, I’d be shaking in my boots right now.

We’ll get through the entry using night vision and, once we’re inside, we’ll move stealthily to contact. We’ll progress in non-visible ways using mirrors and fiber optic detection devices to allow us to see while we remain undetected. Once contact occurs, we’ll move in standard urban assault mode: we’ll control our space; get depth in the room; conduct room-clearing by covering corner to corner as we move up. Ideally, we’ll get in and out with no one ever seeing us. Then we can just dust off and check our sample and see what we’ve got.