The Daily Signal - It Doesn’t Matter if Iran Can Build a Bomb. It Matters if America Has the Guts To Bomb Them, Again

Episode Date: June 26, 2025

Leaked defense intelligence documents obtained by CNN allege that last Saturday night’s strike against Iran’s nuclear infrastructure only set the country’s nuclear program back a few months.  However, the CIA reported this week that it would take “years” for Iran to rebuild its nuclear capabilities.  Bottom line: It doesn’t matter how long it takes Iran to rebuild its nuclear weapon’s program. What matters is will the next presidential administration have the courage to take the Iranian threat serious and bomb them, again, argues Victor Davis Hanson on today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words:”    👉Don’t miss out on Victor’s latest videos by subscribing to The Daily Signal today. You’ll be notified every time a new piece of content drops: https://www.youtube.com/dailysignal?sub_confirmation=1 👉If you can’t get enough of Victor Davis Hanson from The Daily Signal, subscribe to his official YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@victordavishanson7273 👉He’s also the host of “The Victor Davis Hanson Show,” available wherever you prefer to watch or listen. Links to the show and exclusive content are available on his website: https://victorhanson.com The Daily Signal cannot continue to tell stories, like this one, without the support of our viewers: https://secured.dailysignal.com/ 00:00 Introduction and Initial Reactions 00:32 Cost-Benefit Analysis of the Strike 01:00 Public and Political Reactions 02:25 Rebuilding Challenges for Iran 04:17 Strategic Implications and Future Concerns 05:57 Conclusion and Final Thoughts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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We'd love to talk. Business. There's a lot of people on the American left. In the media, there was a leak from the Pentagon as well, that this strike really didn't achieve its aim of destroying entirely these three enrichment facilities. Of course they're going to say that. The head of the International Atomic Energy Commission that watches this says that it was very successful. The military says it was very successful.

I agree with it. The point being is it doesn't really matter to what degree it's been severely damaged. it doesn't really matter for this reason. Iran will have to rebuild them. And so if you boil that down, ask yourself in a cost-to-benefit analysis. Is it cheaper for Iran to go back and start from scratch or is it cheaper for the United States to send another 7 or 10 or 12 B-2 bombers? But there is a caveat. There is a warning here. Hello, this is Victor Davis-Hansson for the Daily Signal. in the aftermath of the Saturday night, June 21st, American strike to take out the three enrichment prints that were necessary for Iran's acquisition of the bomb.

And we've had now four or five days of reaction to it, and it's kind of been mixed, and I'd like to review very quickly the validity of the criticisms of the strike and what the strike was really about. There's a lot of people on the American left in the media. There was a leak from the Pentagon as well, that this strike really didn't achieve its aim of destroying entirely these three enrichment facilities. But of course, we don't know that. We wouldn't trust the Iranians who say that it didn't harm them. Of course they're going to say that. The head of the International Atomic Energy Commission that watches this says that it was very successful.

I agree with it, the military says it was very successful. successful. And the point being is it doesn't really matter to what degree it's 90% destroyed, 80% destroyed, 100% destroyed. It's been severely damaged. And it doesn't really matter for this reason. Iran will have to rebuild them. There's been all sorts of rebuilding costs out there in the public domain, $100, $200 billion, $400 billion, $500 billion, $500 billion to go down 500 feet, 300 feet, 200 feet, in a new mountain cavern. And remember, they would be reacting to a B-2 strike, and they would look at the damage, and they said we'd have to go even lower, which means we're going to have to spend more

money. But here's the interesting equation. Add the money that Iran still subject to oil embargoes with economy that has, it's GDP, has collapsed by 45% over the last two or three years is going to come up with a wherewithal and make that argument to the people, hey everybody, you're going to miss now not just one paycheck, but two paychecks every three months because we have to rebuild the nuclear facilities that were completely demolished and we have to spend more money. The Iranian in the street would say, and then what?

They're going to be destroyed again. How can you stop them? You have no air defenses. The Russians don't want to give us air defenses. The Chinese will not give us air defenses. Why would they want to give us air defenses? They go up and smoke. They only humiliate their own equipment.

It's you, you, the military, you, the theocracy, that's the problem. And so if you boil that down, ask yourself in a cost-of-benefit analysis. Is it more, is it cheaper for Iran to go back and start from scratch and build these mountainous sub-ebbels? Mediterranean facilities, or is it cheaper for the United States to send another 7 or 10 or 12 V2 bombers and send them into airspace for about 35 minutes and take them out? And that's what they can do. But there is a caveat. There is a warning here.

There is only one limit on our ability to take out the next generation should it appear of uranium enrichment. And that problem is not in Iran. It's not in Hezbollah. It's not with Hamas. It's with Washington and Tel Aviv. Will the United States government have the courage and have the competency and understand the geostrategic complications and dangers of Iran having another bomb?

And what I mean by that is if you have another Obama administration, or if you have another Biden administration, will they act when they see another uranium facility being developed? Will you have another BB Netanyahu in Israel? So what am I getting at? The only worry that we all have in the West is that Iran, at some future date, we'll look at the political composition in Washington and Tel Aviv and said, we've seen this bunch before. So pedal to the metal, let's hurry up and enrich, because,

because they will not stop it. But even then, it will take a huge investment, a huge investment that has to be sold to a population that has been deprived of trillions of dollars of internal development that has been diverted to Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, the Asades that are all up in smoke, and then they will have to hear an argument to rearm all of those people for terrorist deterrence

and then rebuild everything for nuclear deterrence and hope there's somebody not like Netanyahu and Trump in Washington. And for now, those are pretty good odds that the strike is successful and will be in the near future. Thank you very much. This is Victor Davis Hansen for The Daily Signal.

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