Thursday, July 3, 2008

Bush and Iran -- M. Stefan Strozier

President Bush says that America may go to war with Iran, and that, "All options are on the table." That is a serious problem for any number of reasons. First, we have to accept that President Bush is not a sane man. No matter what you think about his politics or psychology, his actions must be regarded with a heavy dose of suspicion. He is a failure, of that there is no question. The American public does not doubt this fact for an instant. Yet Bush does still not get it, these many years later. It must be slowly dawning on him that he has accomplished little, if anything, and has left a legacy of war and suffering without reward. In such a situation any man would be dangerous. Bush is going to try and do anything while he is still in power to "make things right," as he sees them. We all understand that Bush's vision is twisted and evil -- there is no real objection with that fact.

The important thing to understand about Iran is if they get a nuclear weapon it won't be for some time, years. Therefore, Bush is irrelevant. His rhetoric needs to be changed to reflect this reality. Iran is a problem for the next president, and we probably should negotiate with them. Iran is making a lot of noise but they are not a major player, so why treat them like one? We should simply meet and talk, we have nothing to lose and this will make them feel good and important -- whether or not they are.

Attacking Iran is truly a bridge to far for America, and it would end us. Let's not pretend otherwise. It's not simply a military matter, the economy cannot sustain a third war. Note that Iran is not a 3rd front of one war; but a new war. All of America's wars are currently under the umbrella of the "war on terror." But that is just verbal noise; in fact, our war in Afghanistan has nothing to do with Iraq, and a third war in Iran would be another war.

What is happening to America? Have we all lost our minds? This is not the country that I remember living in all my life. Why we are at the brink of this 3rd war at all is beyond me, although I have the answer: We Americans are following a madman. Watch his every move closely in his last days.