US Boxed in After Iran Surprise: Analysts

Space War ^ | December 5, 2007 | Staff Writers

[america4vr]

The threat of war with Iran has ebbed and with new UN sanctions now an even harder sell, the United States has scant options even if it were to reverse course and engage Tehran, experts say.

President George W. Bush insists that Iran remains a threat despite Monday's appraisal by US intelligence that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003, a change of heart that has sent shockwaves around the world.

Ray Takeyh, senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said that in light of the new National Intelligence Estimate (NIE): "The military option is not just off the table, it's out the window."

Russia and China all but ruled out fresh UN sanctions against Iran after the NIE, which for Takeyh was evidence of today's US spy leaders refusing to "roll over" to the Bush White House after skewed intelligence before the Iraq war.

The NIE undermined the case presented by Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney that Iran poses an imminent threat that might require a military response, said Bruce Riedel, a former presidential advisor on Middle East affairs.

"A unilateral US military attack on Iran is off the table now, no matter what Bush says about 'all options are open'," Riedel, a Brookings Institution analyst, said.

"Russia and China have been vindicated in their argument that Iran does not have a weapons program. They will not support new sanctions now," he added.

"So, a bilateral dialogue makes sense," Riedel said.

"Will Bush do it? He will face pressure from the Democrats to be flexible but also pressure from the neo-cons to hang tough. My guess is he will not, and leave it to the next president to come up with a new approach."

[america4vr]

Let's deal with reality here. The better we know what we're up against the more effectively we can devise a strategy to have the wiliest motley crew of scurrilous ne'er-do-wells to fly the Jolly Roger hung by their own petard.

The Three M's of the Apocalypse, the Mad Mullahs of Mayhem

They've managed one political success after another, Hezbollah in Lebanon, terror bombings against the US and Israel, military interventionism in Iraq to a stunning degree. They deserve the most grudging of credit for their wily ways having achieved regional superpower status by leveraging a mediocre geo-political hand into a threat to be reckoned with.

The world is indeed intimidated by Iran's capacity at mischief-making armed only with conventional weaponry. the mere suggestion that it will soon acquire nuclear capacity is enough to make the hair on the back of necks britstle with terror. They have indeed cornered us and we had better find a way NIE report or not, to lead all of Iran's Mullahs straight to the gallows.

[Scythian]

We’re a bunch of wimps, plain and simple, that’s the only reason they still exist.

[samtheman]

We really got hoodwinked. My question is, who is behind it?

[SolidWood]

If America chickens out of this fight, Israel is the last hope. With Olmert and ilk it’s not really a comfortable thought.

[EQAndyBuzz]

“We really got hoodwinked. My question is, who is behind it?”

Clintonistas at State and the CIA.

[samtheman]

That’s what I was thinking.

[DoughtyOne]

Two words for you... JIMMY CARTER!

How this louse could destablize the world through his policies, is legendary.

Iran, Panama, Korea, Taiwan, Mainland China...

And I’ll bet we don’t know the half of it.

It took four years for this man to work most of his magic, all against the interests of the United States and the greater world community at large.

And still he rises up to spout off even today. Never was one so inept lofted to such a position. And this to our eternal shame. Look at the persecution, deaths and future wars this man ushered in.

[RC2]

Our country is only boxed in by the media. If we don’t want to be “boxed” in we won’t be. That’s a bunch of hype..........or, it’s our government being afraid to stand up for what our people believe.

[ryan71]

“...the United States has scant options even if it were to reverse course and engage Tehran, experts say.”

PC way of saying we’ve fxxxked ourselves.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

LBJ was a close second.

[RC2]

Remember one thing about Iran’s military. At one time they were rated as the third most powerful military in the world. The fourth was Iraq and Iraq kicked their butts. We all know how powerful the Iraqi military was.....non-existant. Iran’s military has the world fooled. All they have is numbers. Their equipment is not much better than WWII equipment but they have a lot of it.

[Brilliant]

Bush wasn’t planning to do anything about it anyway, but the Dems have done him the great favor of assuming the responsibility for a do-nothing policy. Now he won’t have to take the heat when it blows up in our faces. He can just say “I told you so.”

[DoughtyOne]

Two more words...

Great Society

[AGreatPer]

I don't think Carter had anything to do with it.

Sad to say, it's Bush's fault. He is the one that failed to clean out the Clinton appointed State Depaartment.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

Has that General been briefed by the Israelis yet?

[Caleb1411]

[Billthedrill]

Precisely. There is absolutely no option that the release of this document takes off the table. The only difference is that it doesn’t sound as good and that more people might yell at us later. Tough.

[jveritas]

Analysts are almost always wrong, in particular when predicting what President Bush will do. He will do what is right for the country and prevent the terrorist regime in Tehran from further enriching uranium which is the key ingredient to make the nuclear weapons, and he will do it by any means necessary to achieve the goal.

[Robe]

Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable;
when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we
are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away;
when far away, we must make him believe we are near.

SUN TZU ON THE ART OF WAR

[america4vr]

YOU SAID IT!!!

I've been thinking about it very meticulously recently as I was going to post a message that we ought to send the Plains Peanut Farmer/white trash's answer to Jesse Jackson to mediate the crisis because,
after all, he did all he could to engender the worst foreign policy loss in memory.

The Shah was no boy-scout but he was our guy, our despot, our ace, and to imagine how
mind-bogging-ly in our favor the world's geo-political status would be, is a very depressing
thought, indeed.

As John Lennon sang; imagine there is no religion. Imagine no Mullahs, too. Jeez.