For the latest installment in our What Not to Read series I offer this maddening miasma from the editors of the Baltimore Sun:
As we reflect today on this anniversary of loss and imagine a skyline over New York City where we can still see the Twin Towers, it would do us good to remember the lessons we learned on that day. Namely, that there are those in this world who are willing to sacrifice everything, including their lives, to hurt us. This lesson is currently being ignored in the Obama administration's policies toward Iran, a move that could cost us just as greatly as that day in September. Etc.
Now I know--it’s the Baltimore Sun. No one (or at least no one of substance) takes it's views on foreign policy seriously. The problem is that this sort of article fuels popular demand for bad policy. It allows concerned citizens to project their worst fears on to a seemingly logical bad guy: the Iranian boogieman. Hence, a rebuttal is in order.
Click "Read More" to Continue ------>
As we reflect today on this anniversary of loss and imagine a skyline over New York City where we can still see the Twin Towers, it would do us good to remember the lessons we learned on that day. Namely, that there are those in this world who are willing to sacrifice everything, including their lives, to hurt us. This lesson is currently being ignored in the Obama administration's policies toward Iran, a move that could cost us just as greatly as that day in September. Etc.
Now I know--it’s the Baltimore Sun. No one (or at least no one of substance) takes it's views on foreign policy seriously. The problem is that this sort of article fuels popular demand for bad policy. It allows concerned citizens to project their worst fears on to a seemingly logical bad guy: the Iranian boogieman. Hence, a rebuttal is in order.
Click "Read More" to Continue ------>
The BS folks base their thesis on two assertions that are patently false.
The first is the assumption that Iranian decision makers are irrational, apocalyptic, and willing to effectively commit national suicide for the chance to strike a deep (but survivable) blow against the US.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Iran wants the bomb for purely geopolitical reasons. Iran's leadership, while an opaque bunch, has clearly outlined its desire to turn Iran into a major power. For Iranian hardliners, becoming a nuclear-armed state is the only way to make the US and the Arab states take Iran seriously.
Secondly, the author draws a spurious connection between Iran's nuclear program and its support for terrorist organizations. If Iran were able to develop a nuclear weapon, the last thing it would want to do would be to give it to a bunch of unreliable terrorists in Lebanon or Iraq. For the Iranians, the bomb is all about power and prestige, not mindlessly massacring civilians.
-Evan
The first is the assumption that Iranian decision makers are irrational, apocalyptic, and willing to effectively commit national suicide for the chance to strike a deep (but survivable) blow against the US.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Iran wants the bomb for purely geopolitical reasons. Iran's leadership, while an opaque bunch, has clearly outlined its desire to turn Iran into a major power. For Iranian hardliners, becoming a nuclear-armed state is the only way to make the US and the Arab states take Iran seriously.
Secondly, the author draws a spurious connection between Iran's nuclear program and its support for terrorist organizations. If Iran were able to develop a nuclear weapon, the last thing it would want to do would be to give it to a bunch of unreliable terrorists in Lebanon or Iraq. For the Iranians, the bomb is all about power and prestige, not mindlessly massacring civilians.
-Evan
