Monday, August 23, 2004

Iran's War on the US

Amir Taheri has a good account of the history of Iran's war against the US. In the past few weeks Iran has been making more and more threatening noises, both against the US and against Israel. Iran is trying to establish itself as the hegemon of the region now that the US has gotten rid of one of its main adversaries. At the same time, Iran is very nervous about the US presence in the area. In effect, the US has surrounded Iran with nations friendly to the US, as well as with actual US troops in surrounding countries.

At the same time, more and more information has been coming out regarding Iran's complicity with and support for al-Qaeda. One question is if the US is hit with another terrorist attack by al-Qaeda, how will the US respond to it vis-a-vis Iran. Clearly if the Bush doctrine is still in force, Iran will have to be the next target of the War on Terror. Taking on Iran militarily, however, will be significantly more difficult than Iraq or Afghanistan. Clearly Iran will be a huge foreign policy issue in the next few years. And just as clearly Kerry, given his world-view of pacifism and non-confrontation, is not up to the task of facing down the Mullahs.

No comments: