Good post on Iran

Via Majikthise, I found this very good, very perceptive post on the situation with Iran.

Today, if you haven't heard, Iran has claimed a breakthrough in producing enriched uranium. This is coming on the heels of a burgeoning debate over the suitability and viability of using American military force to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

One interesting part of all this is the by-now standard conservative assertion that anyone who challenges or questions the President's military policies, or now even the policies he may or may not be contemplating, is aiding our enemies by making our will seem less resolute, our threats less credible. This marvelous paragraph shows just how idiotic that kind of argument is—the President has beaten every critic to the punch-line!

the US doesn't appear to have the resources to make legitimate threats to Iran. This is the problem of leverage. Ahmadinejad has been gambling on this being precisely the case: that the threats are empty. I, for one, think he's right. Note the Hersh article again. There's a line that says an attack on Iran would make southern Iraq "light up like a Christmas tree." An attack on Iran would likely mean the final defeat in the Iraq War. And don't think the UK, the only ally dumb enough to follow the US wholeheartedly into Iraq, doesn't know this given its presence in southern Iraq. The inability to defeat enemies in Iraq that the US doesn't really even know does not inspire confidence.

C'mon you cons: Bush doesn't need critics to make his threats look empty; he has Iraq.