Chattering Catchy Slogans

The Chatter level is very high, and something big seems to be in the works. There is every indication that we are being prepared for an attack on Iran. Using the Bush Doctrine of allowing no nation to train or harbor terrorists and the prohibition on giving material support to terrorists, the administration is in a seemingly strong position to go to war—based on its own criteria.

There are however some problems. The main challenge is that there is little likelihood that bombing Iranian training camps or nuclear facilities would actually advance our interests; though it is certainly in our interests for the Iranians not to develop a militarily useful nuclear capacity.

Hawks within the administration hold that Iran is training fighters who are killing Americans. This is certainly true. They also allege that Iran is supplying weapons, particularly the so-called improvised explosive devices. These bombs are no longer improvised, but are clearly manufactured, and they have Iran’s fingerprints all over them.

I am not at all interested in defending Iran. Its regime is as dangerous, fanatical and hostile as any in the world. Its leader is in a dead-heat for rotten maniacal despot with Kim Jong Il, Mugabe and Hugo Chavez. However, Iran is not the only country helping, equipping and allowing terrorists to be trained. While Iran supports Iraqi Shiites who are fighting us and infiltrates native Iranian fighters, so too do some of our “friends.”

Our good friends the Saudis are letting terrorists exit their nation and enter Iraq as insurgents and suicide bombers. Saudis are allowing financial transactions to help maintain the terrorist efforts. Saudis are the primary source of Al Qaeda members in Iraq. *
(* It is important to try to differentiate between the group Al Qaeda in Iraq, which is mostly made up of Sunni Arabs from Iraq and, if you will, “Classic Al Qaeda,” the direct descendents of those who committed 9-11, who are mostly Saudi, with some Egyptians and Libyans.) Our political leaders conflate the two, whether by ignorance or design I can’t say.

Saudi Arabia has an interest in Iraq not devolving into the Shiite state it is on the road to becoming. They are involved in giving aid and comfort to the insurgents who are actually responsible for more American deaths than the agents of Iran.

We are in the middle of a civil war not only in Iraq between the Sunni and Shiite but also in the region. As in the old Cold War when America and the Soviet Union fought each other using surrogates throughout the world, Saudi Arabia and Iran are in a death struggle over leadership in the Muslim World and control of the Middle East.

Before opening another front in this war that is already going so badly, we might want to consider if our immediate goals with Iran are achievable by military means. We should consider how this would catalyze the two major Shiite groups in Iraq to open their own open front(s) against us and if this would invite the open participation of Saudi Arabia. This may be a better time to try to achieve our completely reasonable goals by diplomacy and coalition building.