The reluctance of the Bush Administration to act more aggressively towards Iran has raised a lot of talk about why that is.  One of the possible answers has been that there have been various reports and rumors swirling around for a while that Iran already has nuclear warheads procured from another state like Pakistan or North Korea.  Obviously if they already have nuclear weapons then the attempt to stop this from happening has already failed and what is left is trying to use diplomacy to remove the threat.  This activity would look more like something along the lines of arms control and reduction treaties.  LGF has pointed to a report by Caroline Glick over at Townhall that is much more specific than your run of the mill general rumor:

On Monday, Russia’s Novaya Gazeta newspaper reported that part of Ukraine’s Soviet-era nuclear arsenal may well have found its way to Iran. With the breakup of the Soviet Union, the Ukrainians agreed to transfer the Soviet nuclear arsenal that remained in Ukraine after its independence to Russia. According to Novaya Gazeta, some 250 nuclear warheads never made it to Russia and are thought to have been sent to Iran instead. The report further noted that the warheads will remain operational until 2010.

Responding to the report, Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky, Russia’s deputy defense minister and the chief of General Staff said, "Russia’s General Staff has no information about whether Ukraine has given 250 nuclear warheads to Iran or not."

It is impossible to assess the accuracy of the report. The Ukrainian government has dismissed its allegations. Russia may well have invented the story to shift media attention away from the growing awareness that Russian support for Teheran, Damascus and Hamas effectively places it in the enemy camp in the US-led war against global jihad.

There is a world of difference between a handful of nuclear weapons and 250.  With superb intelligence (like we can really count on that at this point) and considerable intestinal fortitude one could imagine an attempt to attack and destroy the facility protecting a few nuclear weapons because it might be possible to pull off.  250 nukes?  Even if one learned that they were all in one place could that really be trusted?  Would anyone really put all those eggs in one basket?  Not likely, almost certainly not.  With 250 warheads about and now the demonstrated ability to deliver them by medium range missile any plan of attack would have to assume that the Iranians would manage to launch at least a few if they wished to.

This threat is enough to prevent military action being attempted because the costs of the attempt would then be higher than the potential payoff.   If this is true then whether or not the Iranians can make more is almost moot, and the world is changed already.

Combined with recent revelations about Russian aid to Saddam before and during the war with continuing support for our most serious current enemies it looks more and more that the Cold War has returned with a new coalition.  Communism is on the march again in Latin America, rolling up nation after nation with ‘elected’ rulers who will never then leave voluntarily.  Fukayama said we were at the ‘end of history’ back in the early 1990’s.  Looks like he spoke too soon because History is coming back with a vengeance.