7 myths about Iran

There are various topics of debate nowadays in regards to how to pursue Iran. Topics such as sanctions,military strikes, who should the West support, should the West push for a grand bargain with the mullahs or should they support the Greens. I read an article on the Planet Iran news site taken from the Wall Street Journal that goes over some of these things.

I feel that this is definitely something that should be up for discussion nowadays regarding Iran because as many people know we all have different opinions on how the IRI should be approached, so I think its appropriate that I share this piece with all of you, and get some opinions about it.

“We have been trying to negotiate [with the Iranians] for five, six years. We’ve tried everything. We have met every Iranian. We have tried to open every possible channel. We’ve had new ideas and the result is this: nothing.”

Thus did a senior Western diplomat recently describe to me his country’s efforts to reach a negotiated settlement with Tehran over its nuclear programs. In doing so, he also finally disposed of the myth, nearly a decade in the making, that Iran was ready to abandon those programs in exchange for a “grand bargain” with the West.

Let’s dispose of a few other myths—and hope it doesn’t take years for the lesson to stick:

(1) Military strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities would accomplish nothing.

That’s the argument made by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who last year told a Senate Committee that “a military attack will only buy us time and send the program deeper and more covert.”

Maybe so, but what’s wrong with buying time? Israel’s 1981 attack on Iraq’s Osirak reactor also bought time while driving Saddam’s nuclear programs underground. But it ensured that it was a non-nuclear Iraq that invaded Kuwait and threatened Saudi Arabia nine years later, a point recognized by then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney when he thanked the Israeli commander of the Osirak operation for making “our job much easier in Desert Storm.”

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