Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Psycho

Ack! American psycho Norman Podhoretz has an article titled "The case for bombing Iran" out, and it's truly psychotic:http://www.commentarymagazine.com/cm/main/printArticle.html?article=com.commentarymagazine.content.Article::10882
Since a ground invasion of Iran must be ruled out for many different reasons, the job would have to be done, if it is to be done at all, by a campaign of air strikes. Furthermore, because Iran’s nuclear facilities are dispersed, and because some of them are underground, many sorties and bunker-busting munitions would be required. And because such a campaign is beyond the capabilities of Israel, and the will, let alone the courage, of any of our other allies, it could be carried out only by the United States.* Even then, we would probably be unable to get at all the underground facilities, which means that, if Iran were still intent on going nuclear, it would not have to start over again from scratch. But a bombing campaign would without question set back its nuclear program for years to come, and might even lead to the overthrow of the mullahs.


What makes this so scary is that Podhoretz has the ear of the Cheney wing. He was one of the "brains" that planned our great adventure in Iraq.
Not so George W. Bush, a man who knows evil when he sees it and who has demonstrated an unfailingly courageous willingness to endure vilification and contumely in setting his face against it. It now remains to be seen whether this
President, battered more mercilessly and with less justification than any other in living memory, and weakened politically by the enemies of his policy in the Middle East in general and Iraq in particular, will find it possible to take the only action that can stop Iran from following through on its evil intentions both toward us and toward Israel. As an American and as a Jew, I pray with all my heart that he will.


The whole article is filled with references to the cold war and WW11 that are totally off base. The analogies he uses are simply outlandish distortions. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people will fall for this crap.
In short, the plain and brutal truth is that if Iran is to be prevented from developing a nuclear arsenal, there is no alternative to the actual use of military force—any more than there was an alternative to force if Hitler was to be stopped in 1938.

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