Senators: Iran can't be allowed nuclear capability

A trio of senators -- Republican, Democrat and Independent -- wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed Friday to argue that the “red line” for Iran should be set at “nuclear weapons capability” rather than “nuclear weapons” and that a strategy of containment is unacceptable.

Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., and Robert Casey, D-Pa., wrote that “the destabilizing consequences of a nuclear-armed Iran will ensue as soon as Iranians have the components necessary for a weapon -- and by then, it will be too late to stop them.” They also note that the U.S. should demonstrate to Iran that “we are prepared to do whatever necessary to stop them from acquiring a nuclear-weapons capability.”

Deeming anything short of a working bomb as acceptable, they wrote, is “exactly the wrong message to send.”

On the issue of containment: "[W]e must put to rest any suspicion that in the end the United States will acquiesce to Iran's acquisition of a nuclear-weapons capability and adopt a strategy of containment."