Matthew Rothschild writing for The Progressive:
Even as the State Department and the National Security Council are at least exploring the possibility of talking with Tehran, the Vice President of the United States, in typical fashion, is sabotaging that effort.
On Friday, aboard an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf, Cheney rattled a saber at Ahmedinejad. Cheney said: “With two carrier strike groups in the Gulf, we’re sending clear messages to friends and adversaries alike.” In case anyone missed what he was referring to, Cheney spelled it out: “We’ll stand with others to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons and dominating the region.”
While Deadeye Dick and the Israeli right might find the prospect of a nuclear Iran intolerable, it is not at all clear to me why Iran is so extraordinarily threatening as to warrant immediate confrontation and potential war. Just as before the Iraq war "realist" analysts argued that Saddam could be contained and deterred from using any WMD he might acquire, it seems to me that Iran would be deterrable in just the same way. A war to disarm Iran would be just as unnecessary, and just as tragically counterproductive, as was the attack on Iraq.
There are hopeful signs that some in the uniformed military agree that Iran does not pose a threat sufficient to justify military action, and are prepared to risk their careers to avoid such a calamity.
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