War with Iran — Yet Again

http://www.amconmag.com/blog/2008/05/09/war-with-iran-might-be-closer-than-you-think (and that’s a conservative blog, btw.)

Yet again, the administration seeks a rationale for projecting the US military-entertainment-energy complex way beyond Bush’s second disastrous term. Thus far, they’ve been rebuffed by a chorus of people saying "not again." Our growing opposition to perpetual war does in fact make it harder for them — and opponents have helped dismantle the Pentagon’s giant political war drum to some extent.

But the closer we get to the end of this era, the more likely it is for BushCo to act anyway. We see the same behavior with the awarding of last-minute contracts to loyal Bushies. And we may yet see events that attempt to lock President Obama into the action a President McCain would so willingly take.

Iran’s position is not entirely irrational. They see US meddling in the middle east as a green light for their own self-interested actions, counter-productive as they are. Moreover, the US is currently funding, perhaps even arming and training dissident groups inside Iran in a move designed to topple their current government, which is simply the latest in a long line of (more or less) direct and illegal intervention by the US over the last half century.

Can you imagine what we might do if China was found to be funding local US Militias hell bent on violent revolution? This isn’t a case of a few campaign contributions to one political party or another. We’re talking about economic and political sabotage inside Iran designed to overthrow an entire system government. And whether we like their current system or not, we’ve seen how disastrous it is to topple regimes in Iran — something worse always comes along. Moreover, what right do we have, other than our ‘might makes right’ attitude?

While no one should be excusing or blessing the actions of Iran, especially with respect to its attempts to violently interfere in Lebanon and Israel, we are in no position to claim any sort of moral or ethical superiority at the moment. We can only use our superior strength to bully them into submission. But time and again, that tack fails to meet our long-term objectives, and it critically undermines our credibility. In effect, the only option we will be left with is ‘the stick,’ with a world increasingly sick of our bullying, and increasingly unwilling to back us when we really need cooperation vs. submission.

History has shown that an empire, no matter how powerful, will fall if and when everyone turns against it. And history will show, I’m afraid, that the only way to prevent our downfall was to embrace, not mock, the rule of law, both at home and abroad.