No, America must say, to war in Iran. As Iraq continues to strain the country unimaginably, an attack on Iran remains off the table. George W. Bush’s unpopularity should help Congress find the nerve to do something closer to its historical role as an important branch of government–and everyone that can influence their elected representatives (and contacting them is nice but I am actually talking about people with money) needs to let them know that two war theaters in that part of the world is already more than enough.
A civilian nuclear power program is probably within Iran’s rights. The war mongers in the Bush administration will do whatever they can to hype any perceived threat from Iran.
The propaganda is coming in. From far-right web site Newsmax.com:
‘A just-released staff report of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Subcommittee on Intelligence Policy concludes that the United States lacks critical information needed for analysts to make many of their judgments with confidence about Iran.
Entitled “Recognizing Iran as a Strategic Threat: An Intelligence Challenge for the United States,” the report points to “many significant information gaps.”
Threats against the United States and Israel by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — coupled with advances in the Iranian nuclear weapons program, support for terror, and resistance to international negotiations on its nuclear program — demonstrate that Iran is a security threat to the nation that requires high caliber intelligence support, the report concluded.
Noted for special concern are major gaps in U.S. knowledge of Iranian nuclear, biological, and chemical programs.’
Israel was quite mad to take on Hizbollah, and it is hard to imagine that they would dare risk an attack on Iran. So this Martin Peretz post from tnr.com should be seen as a more an attempt to egg on America to get on board for a war against Iran than a serious threat:
‘Some of these perils revolve around Iran‘s nuclear capabilities. Will the United States take them out? Or will Israel be forced to do it?
This is my view about the last question; I don’t know if it’s Shavit’s: If the United States doesn’t, Israel will. The world will be shocked, positively shocked. It will also condemn Israel, protesting that the diplomatic option had been cut off … and other such nonsense. The diplomatic option is a figment in the imaginations of a few Democrats, a few Europeans, and Kofi Annan. But, if truth be told, the world will be grateful to the Jewish State for committing the deed.’
These bizarre, bellicose delusions are perhaps less due to rational analysis than a need to lash out after this summer’s Lebanon failure. The world was not grateful for the war crimes in Lebanon and no gratitude would be due an Israeli attack on Iran either.