<a href="http://thinkprogress.org/2006/01/14/iran-is-the-new-iraq/Via
Think Progress I see the scary satellite photos are out.
<img src="http://mywebpages.comcast.net/duncanblack/iran.jpg">
Everyone can play! Look what I found here in Philadelphia!
<img src="http://mywebpages.comcast.net/duncan/black/iran3.jpg">
Joking aside, I suppose it's necessary that just because I mock the
inevitable rhetoric on Iran from the Bush administration and the
wingnutosphere doesn't mean that I don't think a nuclear Iran thing
would be a less than desirable development. But Iran Talk has
nothing to do with what we're going to about that, Iran Talk is
entirely about domestic politics. There's a difference between
Talking and Doing, even if words have consequences, and the Iran PR
campaign is more about domestic politics than actually doing anything
about the problem.
But, as for how we got here let's remember that George Bush helped
kill whatever reformist movement there was in Iran by referring to
Iran as part of the "axis of Evil," thus making it easy to paint any
Iranian reformer as "objectively pro-American." Much as I don't like
the Bush administration I'm not actually hoping that France invades
to liberate us and I imagine most Iranians feel much the same
way. The Bush administrations "isolate no matter what" tough talk
certainly gives Iran a lot of incentive to get a nuke as quickly as possible.
And, of course, our great Iraqi adventure has made things like air
strikes a wee bit difficult. The people in our new pet
democracy/Iranian client state probably won't be too thrilled about
that. So if there is a weapons development site to be taken out our
hands are rather more tied on that account than they would have otherwise been.
I'll admit I worry less about a nuclear Iran than some. State
sponsored nuclear terrorism/war would require a completely irrational
actor, one even more irrational than North Korea's Dear
Leader. Nuclear proliferation is a concern, but state proliferation
less than the general wandering nuke issue...
I had to write this post by email, so hopefully it isn't all screwed
up as I don't think I'll be able to edit it as Blogger is currerntly broken.