I tend to agree with James Kurth that Iran's sponsorship
of terrorism actually provides us opportunities to deter the
Islamist terrorist organizations they influence or control through
deterring Tehran. (Ahmadinejad's nutty stemwinders notwithstanding,
I think there are good reasons to believe the Iranian government
seeks self-preservation.) Unfortunately, that requires a credible
threat to hold Iran responsible for the actions of groups like
Hezbollah while not replacing the Iranian government with a failed
or failing state through some Iraq-like venture. That's a tough
balance to reach when the next commander-in-chief will be someone
either who sings "Kumbuya" or "Bomb Iran."
topics:
Islam, Iraq, Iran
