Friday, December 25, 2009
Iran...
Charles Krauthammer on the year of living fecklessly, a review of what Obama has done wrong on Iran.
Reading this, I can't help thinking how much better it would be have an eyes-wide-open realist like Krauthammer determining our Iranian strategy, rather than Obama and his “engagement” policy that's so reminiscent of Chamberlain.
On the other hand, the New York Times yesterday published a commentary piece that essentially said it's time to bomb the crap out of Iranian nuclear facilities. That's about as expected (coming from the NYT) as a clean-shaven Santa. Obama's left reacted in a tiredly predictable way, insisting that military action can't work and only engagement can. The lessons of history apparently really can't be learned...
Meanwhile, as Krauthammer points out, Iran is another year closer to having the bomb that absolutely everyone knows they're trying so hard to make. If they obtain that bomb, the political dynamics of the Middle East will be changed in ways that are to the detriment of every other Middle Eastern nation, and they all know it. So my bet is that the most militarily capable nation in the Middle East (Israel) will mount the attack that the U.S. won't make – and that they'll be covertly aided by some countries we ordinarily think of as Israel's enemies. Candidates are Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq...
Reading this, I can't help thinking how much better it would be have an eyes-wide-open realist like Krauthammer determining our Iranian strategy, rather than Obama and his “engagement” policy that's so reminiscent of Chamberlain.
On the other hand, the New York Times yesterday published a commentary piece that essentially said it's time to bomb the crap out of Iranian nuclear facilities. That's about as expected (coming from the NYT) as a clean-shaven Santa. Obama's left reacted in a tiredly predictable way, insisting that military action can't work and only engagement can. The lessons of history apparently really can't be learned...
Meanwhile, as Krauthammer points out, Iran is another year closer to having the bomb that absolutely everyone knows they're trying so hard to make. If they obtain that bomb, the political dynamics of the Middle East will be changed in ways that are to the detriment of every other Middle Eastern nation, and they all know it. So my bet is that the most militarily capable nation in the Middle East (Israel) will mount the attack that the U.S. won't make – and that they'll be covertly aided by some countries we ordinarily think of as Israel's enemies. Candidates are Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq...