U.S. Weighing Readiness for Military Action Against Iran→

My opinion on the issue of a possible war with Iran has always been somewhat dismissive, mainly because, to me at least, it seems so absurd: the U.S. has failed to achieve any real objective in both Afghanistan and Iraq, unless that objective was to waste trillions of dollars on promoting terrorism in the Middle East through invasion and destruction. Consequently, my assumption has been that a lot of what has been/is coming out of the White House and the Pentagon is little more than empty posturing to secure some sort of “soft power” — this, I think, has been the basic strategy behind the issue of Iran’s nuclear “status.”

To my surprise, the WaPo article seems to suggest that the Bush administration is seriously considering an offensive against Tehran. I suppose this isn’t surprising when putting their entire eight-year legacy into full spectrum: close to a decade of what would otherwise be considered hilarious folly, if it wasn’t so tragically horrifying. An invasion of Iran, in this context, would be consistent with their past record of abysmal failure and stupefying idiocy. It would, like all of the others, also make a great parting gift for future generations, ensuring that money that could have otherwise been well-spent on utopian Communist objectives, like social welfare and education, will instead be funneled into a giant, atemporal black hole mired in the miasma of empty nationalist rhetoric (e.g., “support our troops,” “freedom isn’t free”).

So, my hope is that it’s more empty posturing, but that kind of optimism hasn’t exactly panned out in any fruitful way when it comes to expectations from the Bush administration.