Crying Wolf

Submitted by Justin H. (United States), Jan 13, 2006 at 11:43

I neither see the world in the black-and-white sense that the Conservative American press does. The Middle East is, indeed, the world's most complex region, and so therefore, in my opinion is not a matter of "good guys" and "bad guys".

Yet, Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad's comments were outrageous, and worse still was his denial of the Holocaust in December. I am a liberal. Nevertheless, as a Jew, I am pro-Israeli (although I DO support the idea of a Palestinian state NOT governed by Hamas).

With that, I am increasingly concerned about the security of Israel... As stated in my other entries, I do not support George W. Bush's Middle Eastern policies due in large part to the fact that they threaten American interests in the Middle East by giving Islamists (such as HAMAS and the Muslim Brotherhood) the benefit of the doubt at the ballot box and increase anti-Western sentiment amongst Muslims aroung the world. Not surprisingly, I do not support the Iraq war, either, in spite of the fact that Saddam Hussein was among the 20th centuries most brutal dictators. Bush, indeed, had cried wolf based on faulty intelligence.

Whether or not Dr. Pipes agrees with this (and he is more than welcome to disagree, for it is a fairly radical suggestion): perhaps the Iraqis NEEDED Saddam Hussein (at least under him, there were no suicide bombings and no pro-Iranian Islamist parties in power). This should also serve as a lesson in our dealings with Syria. Whether we like Bashar or not, he MUST remain in power to prevent the coming of an Islamic Republic.

The result of the Iraq war only increases my concern about Iran. Like former CIA analyst Ray McGovern, I do not consider Iran to be a threat to the survival of my own country (that being the United States), even if it did have a few nuclear weapons. Indeed, I consider Iran's nuclear program to be a strategic deterrent (YES, I DO BELIEVE THAT IT IS A NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM). However, a nuclear-armed Iran IS a threat to the existence of Israel, which lies within reach of it's Shabab-3 ("shooting star") missiles. Ahmadi-Nejad's comments only reinforce this concern. Indeed, unlike the case of Iraq, something must be done.

Hopefully, however, the international community will still listen to the United States (in spite of the events in Iraq) and, more importantly, to Israel. Yet, the decision by the EU3 to end negotiations is encouraging. Through it all, they still trust us. With luck, China and Russia will do the same. Although military intervention MUST be avoided, it is time for the International community to play hard ball with Iran.

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