The way to handle Iran is through containment and deterrence.  Some say containment is unpredictable and risky, but after dealing with this administrations disastrous occupation of Iraq, look at the unintended, uncontrollable consequences of this war, is it wise to start another preventive war with the logically challenged planners of this Iraq war.

 Some also say the president of Iran, Ahmadinejad is a madman who if he is armed with nuclear weapons, he will launch it against Israel or the US without provocation.  Well everyone that has studied Iran knows that the real power in contrast with most republics, is not the president, but rather the Supreme Leader, who is a religious figure selected by an “Assembly of Experts”.  Even if they posses a nuclear weapon these leaders know that if they launched a nuclear attack it would cause Iran’s total destruction.

The American political hawks argue this situation is comparable like that faced with Hitler in 1938.  This historical comparison is ludicrous.  Germany in 1938 was likely the strongest country in Europe militarily.  The United States possesses overwhelming military superiority over every nation in the world.  Germany was clearly a power on the rise.  Iran is at best a second rate power with no superiority in anything except the willingness of its leaders to throw waves of human cannon fodder into American guns.

Germany was building a true axis of evil while Bush’s axis of evil has only a rhetorical existence.  Politicians like Bush enjoy invoking the adage about those who fail to remember history.  More dangerous are those who remember history poorly or, for that matter, manipulate it cynically.  We would do well to remember World War I, where the combatants swaggered off to wage quick war and ended up in a mutual bloodletting that left all parties in far worse position than when they began.

We already know once started that this war will not be easily won.  The deteriorating base of support for the Iraq occupation and the current condition of our armed forces has made it impossible for the Bush administration to invest more than a bombing run to attack Iran.  This will make as much sense as a naked man kicking a hornet’s nest.

Ultimately, this administration knows that he will hand this disaster over to the next administration.  Ultimately this war cannot be won at a cost Americans are prepared to pay.

Unfortunately there seem to be too few in congress to reject another preventative war.  Of the candidates for president only Ron Paul, Mike Gravel and Dennis Kucinich have stood their ground on rejecting the preposterous justification for an attack on Iran.

All Americans have a great stake in the decision to go to war with Iran.  We need to be assured that we are not being manipulated into another preventative war and that any threat is immanent and serious and that all possible means short of war have been exhausted.  We must be certain that the true costs and presumed benefits have been honestly calculated and that we have not been mislead into a preventive war again.

If this war is waged, we will most certainly bear the costs of the foreign policy failures of the Bush administration for years possibly decades to come.

Peace and Liberty through intelligence, strength, and integrity