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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (185835)	4/27/2006 7:16:35 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Okay.. here's my take on the previous article.. First off, I'm not particularly keen on having a military confrontation with Iran. It's ONE of our options, but should be posed in such a manner that Iran's government can not be confident that it will be the last resort. This is basic "poker" we're playing here and both sides are raising stakes and waiting for the other side to fold or call. But I also don't believe we should overplay the military option either. There are MANY things we can do as a government to bring political pressure upon the militants within Iran's government and to provide further power to the moderates and progressives that seek reapproachment with the West and moderate government. The one thing, IN PARTICULAR, is formulating our official public statements so that they address the Iranian people, in particular, their young people, in order to call upon their rationality and to convince them that Ahmadinejad is leading them down a path to isolation and economic ruin. We should be addressing the Iranian people as a whole. Tell them that we wouldn't particularly have a problem with Iran possessing nuclear power were they governed by a responsible and non-agressive government that could be entrusted with it. Secondly, we should play our "Al-Sistani" card and assist his people to advance their agenda of seeing the center of Shi'a clerical power return to Najaf and Karbala, and away from Qom. Ayatollah Ali Khamanei's credentials as "supreme leader" are definitely questionable, according to Shi'a religious authorities, while Al-Sistani's are impeccable (as are his credentials regarding the interaction between religion and politics). And, if considered necessary, we should commence covert support of underground newspapers and internet sites that seek to undermine the religious radicals currently ruling Iran. And of course, on the face of all of this, we have the economic sanction option... racheting them up as necessary. But all of this requires the UNSC to ACT!! To place the full international authority of the UNSC behind the IAEA and the requirement that Iran fully disclose it's nuclear activities. Given that Ahmadinejad is publicly stating that he doubts that the West has the "grapes" to impose sanctions upon Iran, it's ALL-IMPORTANT that the West not fail to meet this ridicule with forceful action. But once again.. all of this must include the entire world, NOT JUST THE US, addressing the Iranian people and telling that enough is enough and the west has no desire to make them suffer for the intransigence of their fanatical leadership. Now.. there is a slim chance that we might find young Iranians lining up to support Ahmadinejad, but I think that are far more rational than that and see that his policies and heated rhetoric are doing nothing but make their lives more miserable. Hawk