Mr. Speaker, it was 1980. Saddam was the threat. Israel was pleading for the world to take action. Iraq was building high-grade nuclear reactors, scouring the world for sources of uranium ore and attempting to obtain hot cells capable of producing plutonium.
In 1990, the world responded to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, and Desert Storm unfolded. Courtesy of Iraq, 39 Scud missiles rained down on the region. If just one of those Scud missiles had been nuclear-armed, the world would be a different place.
Today, Iran is the nuclear threat. Crippling economic sanctions are having an effect. Israel is once again pleading with the nations not to accept anything less than a complete and verifiable dismantling of nuclear capability.
Tough diplomacy and rigorous enforcement have a slim prospect of success. Anything less than complete capitulation ensures catastrophe. The nations must remain vigilant and resolute on this matter. The cost of failure is conflict that may be impossible to contain.