2008 Woodie Awards
Drifting toward war with Iran
Recent accusations made against Iran should cause Americans to worry
Editorial Staff: Sacramento Bee
Issue date: 2/19/07 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
President Bush claims "Iran is providing material support for attacks on American troops." He has presented no evidence, but implies that the Iranian government is killing American soldiers in Iraq, an act of war.
All of this has an eerily familiar ring. The American people should be skeptical.
Iran does pose a potential threat to American interests. But given all we know about claims made to justify the Iraq invasion, there is every reason for Congress to question every claim the Bush administration makes about Iran.
Friday's report from the McClatchy Washington Bureau on a Pentagon unit that used intelligence falsely to link Saddam Hussein to al-Qaeda prior to the Iraq invasion reinforces that point.
With Iraq in chaos, the Bush administration has become increasingly confrontational with Iran. It has launched a special operations mission to target Iranians in Iraq. It has seized a delegation of Iranians invited to Iraq by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. It has stationed a second aircraft-carrier group in the Persian Gulf for the first time since 2003. It has sent additional Patriot missile batteries to defend countries within range of Iranian missiles.
The provocative acts are not one-sided. Both countries have conducted war games in the Persian Gulf, and Iran has been test-firing land-to-sea missiles. The possibilities for missteps and provocations that could lead to open conflict are increasing.
Former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, nobody's idea of an alarmist, believes the Bush administration is drifting toward an attack on Iran. Earlier this month, he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee how this might proceed: "A plausible scenario ... involves Iraqi failure to meet the benchmarks; followed by accusations of Iranian responsibility for the failure; then by some provocation in Iraq or a terrorist act in the U.S. blamed on Iran; culminating in a 'defensive' U.S. military action against Iran."
Certainly, Iran's nuclear program is a threat. If Iran builds a nuclear bomb, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and others will launch nuclear programs. It is in the interest of the United States to avoid a nuclear free-for-all in the Mideast. Still, years remain before Iran can enrich enough nuclear fuel to build a bomb.
Unfortunately, as in the run-up to the Iraq invasion, the Bush administration focuses primarily on two options-doing nothing or launching air strikes. It will be up to Congress to flesh out the full range of diplomatic carrots and military sticks that can be used to defuse the nuclear issue and others. The discussion in Congress also should expose the costs and dangers of widening war in the Middle East.
Congress needs to take these steps now, before the United States and Iran take irrevocable steps that lead to an armed conflict that nobody should want.
All of this has an eerily familiar ring. The American people should be skeptical.
Iran does pose a potential threat to American interests. But given all we know about claims made to justify the Iraq invasion, there is every reason for Congress to question every claim the Bush administration makes about Iran.
Friday's report from the McClatchy Washington Bureau on a Pentagon unit that used intelligence falsely to link Saddam Hussein to al-Qaeda prior to the Iraq invasion reinforces that point.
With Iraq in chaos, the Bush administration has become increasingly confrontational with Iran. It has launched a special operations mission to target Iranians in Iraq. It has seized a delegation of Iranians invited to Iraq by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. It has stationed a second aircraft-carrier group in the Persian Gulf for the first time since 2003. It has sent additional Patriot missile batteries to defend countries within range of Iranian missiles.
The provocative acts are not one-sided. Both countries have conducted war games in the Persian Gulf, and Iran has been test-firing land-to-sea missiles. The possibilities for missteps and provocations that could lead to open conflict are increasing.
Former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, nobody's idea of an alarmist, believes the Bush administration is drifting toward an attack on Iran. Earlier this month, he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee how this might proceed: "A plausible scenario ... involves Iraqi failure to meet the benchmarks; followed by accusations of Iranian responsibility for the failure; then by some provocation in Iraq or a terrorist act in the U.S. blamed on Iran; culminating in a 'defensive' U.S. military action against Iran."
Certainly, Iran's nuclear program is a threat. If Iran builds a nuclear bomb, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and others will launch nuclear programs. It is in the interest of the United States to avoid a nuclear free-for-all in the Mideast. Still, years remain before Iran can enrich enough nuclear fuel to build a bomb.
Unfortunately, as in the run-up to the Iraq invasion, the Bush administration focuses primarily on two options-doing nothing or launching air strikes. It will be up to Congress to flesh out the full range of diplomatic carrots and military sticks that can be used to defuse the nuclear issue and others. The discussion in Congress also should expose the costs and dangers of widening war in the Middle East.
Congress needs to take these steps now, before the United States and Iran take irrevocable steps that lead to an armed conflict that nobody should want.
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