Posted on 04/10/2015 6:52:40 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
At the heart of the concerns surrounding the deal with Iran is a simple question: Is Iran rational? For many critics, the answer is self-evident. The Iranians are “apocalyptic,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has often said, warning that you can’t “bet on their rationality.” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has declared, “I think they’re crazy.” Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon restated his opinion recently that the Iranian government is a “messianic and apocalyptic regime.”
And yet, these same critics’ preferred policy is one that relies on Iran’s rationality. The alternative to the deal forged by Iran and the six great powers is not war, they insist, but rather to ratchet up pressure and demand more concessions from Tehran. So, this crazy, apocalyptic band of mullahs, when faced with a few more sanctions, will calmly calculate the costs and benefits and yield in a predictable way to more pressure. Or, as J.J. Goldberg writes in the Jewish Daily Forward, “Apparently they’re irrational enough to welcome nuclear Armageddon, but rational enough to yield to economic punishment.” (This point is also well made by Vox.com’s Max Fisher.)
In his thorough book, “Unthinkable: Iran, the Bomb, and American Strategy,” Kenneth Pollack carefully reviews decades of Iran’s foreign policy and shows that it has been not just rational but prudent, pushing forward when it sees an opportunity, backing off when it sees dangers. He quotes a former Israeli armed forces chief of staff who said: “The Iranian regime is radical, but it’s not irrational.”
Rational does not mean reasonable. It means that the regime wants to thrive and, given that goal, it calculates costs and benefits and acts accordingly. But it is worth asking a broader question as well: Is Iran being reasonable?
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Iran is rational. Obama is rational. However, both hate all Jews, and neither is on America’s side.
If a man walked up and down Pennsylvania Avenue threatening the president’s life would the SS call him rational?
Iran is rational.
People who pray outside abortion clinics are nuts.
got it!
NO!
Why is Fareed Zakaria, the proven plagiarist, still being published? If he were a surgeon or a pilot, he would be in jail.
I have never been one of those "obama is crazy" people because I never thought he was (still think that)
All men want to live and stay alive and they will do whatever is needed in order to do that
For an Israeli to state that Iran is apocalyptic and messianic is to state that Iran is part of a biblical account ... ONE WHICH WE COULD KNOW AND PLAN FOR ... that plays in end times activities
Perhaps the history we should know in order to not repeat it is Biblical and not world.
WaPo assessment:
Iran: rational
Ted Cruz: crazy and dangerous
That would be Islam. Or violent, Islamic Iran. Or violent, misogynistic, anti-modernity Iran. Iran is a terror-supporting violent, misogynistic state that would like to drag the rest of world back to the seventh century. And we're supposed to treat them like they're rational? No thanks.
Don’t trust the bearded men with the burning eyes, as they have long since passed beyond rational behavior, and the best you can expect are brief moments of politeness, but only as a tactical move.
These are rational tactical moves. Iran and Obama both want America to pay for Iran to build nukes, so they can kill the Jews as soon as possible. The rational move is for them to make an agreement that lifts the sanctions and gives Iran money in return for promises that will not be kept.
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