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September 18, 2007Living with Iran and Its Nukes?Can you imagine any of the leading presidential contenders--Democratic or Republican--saying this? From AP: Abizaid: World could abide nuclear Iran WASHINGTON - Every effort should be made to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, but failing that, the world could live with a nuclear-armed regime in Tehran, a recently retired commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East said Monday. John Abizaid, the retired Army general who headed Central Command for nearly four years, said he was confident that if Iran gained nuclear arms, the United States could deter it from using them. "Iran is not a suicide nation," he said. "I mean, they may have some people in charge that don't appear to be rational, but I doubt that the Iranians intend to attack us with a nuclear weapon." The Iranians are aware, he said, that the United States has a far superior military capability. "I believe that we have the power to deter Iran, should it become nuclear," he said, referring to the theory that Iran would not risk a catastrophic retaliatory strike by using a nuclear weapon against the United States. "There are ways to live with a nuclear Iran," Abizaid said in remarks at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank. "Let's face it, we lived with a nuclear Soviet Union, we've lived with a nuclear China, and we're living with (other) nuclear powers as well." Lawmakers and presidential candidates routinely declare that living with a "nuclear Iran" is not acceptable. Well, if you say that and mean it, then you are committing yourself to military action if persuasion and sanctions fail. Certainly, if a major presidential candidate were to take a position similar to Abizaid's, he or she would be mercilessly blasted for weakness and accused of lily-livered appeasement. By the way, Abizaid is not the only military expert to take this realistic view of Iran. Retired Lt. General William Odom, who ran the National Security Agency for President Ronald Reagan, has expressed similar sentiments. (See here.) Yet such voices are rarely--if ever--heard in the political debate concerning Iran. After all, who has the guts to acknowledge that the world might indeed have to figure out how to handle a nuclear Iran? It does take more courage to say that than to rattle the saber. Posted by David Corn at September 18, 2007 12:11 PM |
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"HUBRIS is a bold and provocative book that will quickly become an explosive part of the national debate on how we got involved in Iraq." --Tom Brokaw |
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