Talking to Iran

Frank Gaffney:

It seems as though everyone but President Bush himself is now calling for U.S. talks with Iran and Syria. That's expected to be one of the recommendations in the long-awaited Iraq Study Group report to be released next month.

Incoming Defense Secretary Robert Gates supports engaging Iran. And just yesterday, former Secretary of State Colin Powell added his voice to the choir.

When the President says "no dice," it might appear to be classic, unwarranted Bush stubbornness. But the truth is, the new talk-to-Iran conventional wisdom is irresponsible.

Why? Because Iran is, hands down, the main impediment to freedom and stability in Iraq. Together with its client state, Syria, Iran is directly implicated in murderous attacks on American forces in Iraq. Iran is arming and training Shiite militias. And it's using violence, intelligence and money to dominate oil-rich southern Iraq.

If we have any hope of turning the tide in Iraq, our strategy must negate those threats. Diplomatic appeasement won't work. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the mullahs who run the show in Tehran will only be emboldened and intensify their efforts to dominate the region and destroy those who stand in their way.

Instead, it's time for a concerted effort to isolate, counter and help the Iranian people take down that regime from within.

To do so, we need to adapt theCold War strategy Ronald Reagan used to destroy the Soviet Union. It is an urban legend that Reagan brought down "the Evil Empire" by negotiating with Mikhail Gorbachev.

Nonsense. In fact, Reagan systematically cut off the USSR's funding, empowered its opponents and thwarted its military programs. Similarly, we should use political, financial and intelligence tools to enable the mullahs' domestic opponents to undermine their power.

...
When we do talk to them it should be a brutally frank discussion about this. We should let them know that Iran will be on the receiving in of some lethal weapons if it does not stop sending weapons into Iraq. Since we now have the proof on teh arms shipment we should begin by finding a return address for those arms.

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