WH: Not ruling out attack on Iran

Well, define "success."

We can't invade; our manpower is spread too thin. We're not going to get a proxy force to fight for us like we did in Afghanistan -- I doubt the Israelis will go beyond an airstrike or three. Maybe we could make nice with the Sunnis in Iraq and send them in, but I have better chances of winning Powerball Wednesday. The only way the regime is toppled is through an invasion; bombing a couple reactors, the mullahs stay in power and they could build up even more resentment toward the U.S. government.

And I doubt toppling the hard-line regime would help that much; Iranians still will finance the Shiite militias on their own.

 

Depends how effective the strikes are. I could live with a little more resentment if it meant that they weren't nulcear.

 

So they go nuclear with help from North Korea a couple years later. Will it matter that much in the long run?

And if we get the Iranians more pissed off, it makes the situation in Iraq worse.

 

So how exactly do we appease the Iranians? And why should we?

 

I hope to hell this president is smart enough to realize Iran needs a diplomatic soluton. Any use of force brings the most of the Middle East in to defend Iran.

Would we be attacked? Probably not on the homeland, but you can bet that any Iraqi oilfield would become a prime target, as would anyother Arab oilfield that produces fuel for the U.S.

Not only that, but an attack against Iran would further complicate our relationship with our allies in Europe and Asia. The last thing we need right now is to become an isolated country. And that's what I'm afraid would happen.

 

What would the diplomatic solution be?

 

Avoiding another war.

 

And how do we do that? Let them build nukes?

 

A wider U.S. invasion into the Middle East would be the gravest threat to American national security imaginable.

 

Aaaaaaannnnd we're off.

 

Did someone hear hounds?

 

Obviously, W is far from entirely wrong, regarding the threat.

Alas, his execution of his responses has been consistently ill-considered.

He isn't getting a free pass.