Tuesday, January 06, 2015

Iran: the central issue is political/military

Michael Ledeen reminds us that
there’s no terrorism to speak of in North Korea or Cuba, where misery abounds.

Indeed, I can make a strong case for the opposite hypothesis: that resistance to tyranny grows as economic conditions improve. Revolution is not an act of desperation, it’s an act of hope.

All of which is to encourage policy makers to concentrate on the political/military dimension, not the economy of our various enemies.

Finally, if you understand what’s going on inside the failed regime of Ali Khamenei, you’ll see why the various entreaties from the White House are totally dissonant. Such a regime doesn’t want to make a deal with the Great Satan; it is pushing hard for victories on the ground throughout the region, and elsewhere as well. Khamenei and Putin are in total agreement about the desired shape of the world they are trying to create: a marginalized America, a hegemonic control over Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria, some miracle for Venezuela and Cuba (the Iranians read the Cuban deal as further proof that intransigence works with Obama) and, needless to say, the downfall of the royal family in Saudi Arabia.

If we had a foreign policy team worthy of us, we’d be supporting the Iranian opposition, but Obama has proven that he prefers Khamenei to Mousavi.

Which disgusts the Iranian people, and should disgust us. Maybe something worthwhile will come from the new Congress? And not just sanctions. The central issue is political/military.
Read more here.

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