Commentary by Robert Tracinski
The Intellectual Activist Magazine
April 12, 2006
Over the weekend, the mainstream media finally caught on to the fact that US military strikes against Iran are actively being planned and considered, and for the most part, the MSM has tried to make this sound like a crazy, impractical idea. They are trying to stop US action against Iran before it begins. Now is the time for a war mobilization by all of us whose contribution to the war effort is made with a keyboard instead of a rifle. Many of us having been saying for years that Iran is the ultimate enemy in the War on Terrorism—and now war with Iran is openly being considered and debated.
This is the moment we have been waiting for. This is the time for us to make the case for war with Iran. Use whatever medium is open to you: blog entries, letters to the editor, phone calls, e-mails, and letters to your congressman and to the White House, one-on-one debates with friends and coworkers. Make the case that war with Iran is not just "thinkable"—it is mandatory. We need to attack Iran, not just to keep it from developing nuclear weapons, but to topple the largest remaining state sponsor of terrorism, and to discredit Islamic rule. Everywhere you look in the Middle East, if you ask who is the biggest threat to America's interests, you will find the same answer—Hamas in the Palestinian territories, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Assad regime in Syria, al-Qaeda and the Shiite militias in Iraq—Iran is supporting them all.
This is the real war, and it's time we started fighting it. A few commentators are already starting to make the case for war. Surprisingly, there seems to be a more vigorous debate over this in London than there is, so far, in the US. An editoral in today's Daily Telegraph argues that "while Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, regards the concept of military action against Iran as 'nuts,' it would be even nuttier to allow Teheran to have an atom bomb." But this piece is still somewhat weak, arguing for the "threat" of force against Iran.
The piece below, from the Times of London, is somewhat better, saying we have to prepare, not just to threaten force, but to actually use it, and to face the consequences. By the way, some headlines today are trumpeting a story about how Iran has made steps in enriching uranium, in a way that makes it look like Iran is just about to get the bomb. These headlines are exaggerated (the enrichment is not at bomb-grade levels), but it does remind us that Iran is moving inexorably toward its nuclear goal.
"Prepare Yourself for the Unthinkable: War Against Iran May Be a Necessity,"
Gerard Baker
Times of London
April 12, 2006
The unimaginable but ultimately inescapable truth is that we are going to have to get ready for war with Iran…. A war, even a limited one, will almost certainly raise oil prices to recession-inducing levels, as Iran cuts itself off from global markets. The loss of Iranian supply and the already stretched nature of production in the Arab world and elsewhere means prices of $150 per barrel are easily imaginable. Military strikes will foster more violence in the Middle East, strengthen the insurgency in Iraq and Afghanistan, fuel anti-Western sentiment among Muslims everywhere and encourage more terrorism against us at home.
All true. All fearfully powerful arguments against the use of the military option. But multiplied together, squared, and then cubed, the weight of these arguments does not come close to matching the case for us to stop, by whatever means may be necessary, Iran from becoming a nuclear power…. If Iran goes nuclear, it will demonstrate conclusively that even the world’s greatest superpower, unrivalled militarily, under a leadership of proven willingness to take bold military steps, could not stop a country as destabilising as Iran from achieving its nuclear ambitions….
Iran, of course, secure now behind its nuclear wall, will surely step up its campaign of terror around the world. It will become even more of a magnet and haven for terrorists. The terror training grounds of Afghanistan were always vulnerable if the West had the resolve. Protected by a nuclear-missile-owning state, Iranian camps will become impregnable….
[I]n the end, preparation for war, by which I mean not military feasibility planning, or political and diplomatic manoeuvres but a psychological readiness, a personal willingness on all our parts to bear the terrible burdens that it will surely impose, may be our last real chance to ensure that we can avoid one.
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