Let's Give Iran Some Of Its Own Medicine (Mark Steyn)

The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 1-17-2006 | Mark Steyn

[Timm]

Can we possibly be preparing to live with a nuclear-armed Iran? I fear we are on the cusp of a new, grim time...

[Lejes Rimul]

And your evidence refuting is what, exactly, then? The facts are that we're beholden to Iran's bosom-buddy radical Shia in Iraq. Sadr murdered our boys in cold blood on Iran's orders, but now he's a major mover and shaker in the Iraqi government. Chalabi gave Iran classified information that helped to roll up our spy networks, but he's free to possibly become the next Oil Minister. All this helps us put pressure on Iran how? We're in a much worst position now than we were before

[PhilDragoo]

[voletti]

Make a huge mirror to counteract global warming. LOL!! Good one!

[Lejes Rimul]

Yay, let's give all of our support to Sunni fundamentalist terrorist groups; they're fighting an evil empire, they must be on our side! That'll turn out great! </ sarcasm>

[decal]

"Needless to say, the German deputy foreign minister, Gernot Erler, has already cautioned that this may be going too far, and that sanctions could well hurt us more than it hurts the Iranians..."

It wouldn't be too soon to start Following The Money a la the Oil-for-Fraud scandal.

[SampleMan]

If you believe that Straw was being honest I have a bridge to sell you.

If not honest, then an idiot.

[Oh Brother]

If China does not go along, we should help Taiwan build some nuclear reactors.

[konahawk]

I'm getting a strong feeling lately that all the diplomatic efforts will somehow all fail. They will stretch out in time for what...say a year or two, who knows. When that failure comes (it won't be from lack of trying) there will be a unilateral action by either Israel, Iran, America\Britain\Aust. It's as simple and scary as that. Can anybody out there envision a more peaceful scenario that's somewhat realistic?

[SampleMan]

It would be a lot easier to put pressure on Iran if not for the current situation in Iraq.

I don't accept that. The Shia fought and died against Shia in the Iran-Iraq War. They were Iraqis first. And except for the leftist political whining, having a military base of operations in Iraq is a big plus.

[bybybill]

Posted this before, but what happens if we deploy a heavy corps, march up to the Iranian border, and tell their armed forces and people we are coming in to destroy the nukes and then out we go. We will not be stopped till we are done, and please don`t get in the way cause you will die.
Wonder what would happen?

[thoughtomator]

Iran has an area called Balochistan which would be perfect for that purpose.

[thoughtomator]

You can't deter a suicidal religious fanatic who believes eternal paradise awaits him after you kill him.

[Cyber Liberty]

Incorrect. The opposite is the case. We now have a lot of trrops and hardware in theater. Would not have that but for "the current situation in Iraq."

Iran has two fronts against us right now.

[A.Hun]

All we need is our most feared secret weapon:

[lemura]

There is no alternative. The way this is going to play out is to co-opt every disenfranchised group. It's also a reason why the Bush Iraq strategy was pure genius. Not just from a tactical level in terms of troop presence, but as a showcase of what the Shia can do in terms of a representative republic.

What 20-something Iranian wouldn't want a part of that in their own country vs. being drafted to fight for some loonies that are cutting them off from an exciting future?

[A.Hun]

Steyn does lay out a valid option, but if the libs in the Senate ever heard about it, it would offend their sense of fairness. Dumbasses.

[decal]

"You can't deter a suicidal religious fanatic who believes eternal paradise awaits him after you kill him."

Well, that's the point MS made; most of the Iranians AREN'T that way now:

"The majority of Iran's population is younger than the revolution: whether or not they're as "pro-American" as is sometimes claimed, they have no memory of the Shah; all they've ever known is their ramshackle Islamic republic where the unemployment rate is currently 25 per cent..."

[Mad_as_heck]

President Ahmaggedonouttahere

For obvious reasons I refer to him simply as "President A" or "The Unpronoucable One."

And thanks Carter. 30ish years later the incompetence and malice of your disastrous administration is still haunting us.

[thoughtomator]

The ones with their fingers on the launch button are that way and that's something we can't ignore. They need to be dealt with before they are in a position to nuke anything.