Iran Idiocy
By Eric Martin cuts to the chase:
Let’s say, again ex arguendo, that Iran’s actions have been intolerabely malicious and destructive, and that our own acts and intentions have been peaceful and pure. Would it, even then, behoove us to treat Iran’s meddling in Iraq as a reason to launch a war against Iran now?
The answer is a pretty clear no.
At the moment, President Bush has the military leadership scrambling to come up with a way to tinker with deployments, rotations and the like in order to create the illusion of a surge of troops in Iraq. Big dreamers at the AEI like Frederick Kagan are spinning fantastical plans for “winning” in Iraq based on the utilization of an army of considerably larger force size than the one that currently exists.
With severe troop shortages and ever-worsening conditions plaguing our efforts in Iraq, we’re supposed to invade Iran as well? Even after factoring in the increased risk to our troops in Iraq (see, ie, long, vulnerable supply lines stretching through the Shiite south) that would flow from an Iran in full war footing? Really Glenn? I’d ask “you and whose army” but I know it wouldn’t include you.
Damn straight. Reynolds seems to think that the crux of the Iran problem is to figure out a convenient excuse for launching an attack. The only people he’s fooling are, presumably, his readers. Excuses for war are like buses; there’s always another one coming. The problem with war against Iran is that it’s a terrible idea on its merits. It’s a high risk, no payoff maneuver. Indeed, in spite of the mental gymnastics of such luminaries as Arthur Herman, there’s almost no way to sketch out a scenario in which war gets us what we want from Iran without also incurring exorbitant costs. Reynolds has been sticking his fingers in his ears for the last four years, happily ignoring the disaster he helped cheer on in Iraq. Moreover, I’m pretty sure that the senior policymakers in both Washington and Tel Aviv understand this, which is why they haven’t taken military action already. They certainly don’t need excuses, and they’ve never believed that diplomacy and economic pressure would eliminate Iran’s nuclear program or its support for terrorists.
We’re left in the absurd position of seeing Reynolds implicitly denounce the warhawks whom he cheered into office for not being sufficiently hawkish…