Wanna Prevent A War?

Then get tough:

If military conflict would be a disaster for everyone, then it is Iran that should worry first and worry most. Iran could easily satisfy its stated nuclear energy goals and the West’s security concerns at the same time. But it is not interested in a negotiated settlement satisfactory to all. It has rejected Europe’s offer of all the carrots in the world, and on the contrary promises at every turn to “defeat” and even “destroy” the United States and Israel. Iran is propelling us towards a confrontation — against our will. By aggressively challenging the status quo without addressing the legitimate security concerns of other nations, Iran is engaging in strategic aggression.

Encouraged by the West’s pseudo-pacifists, Iran is starting to think that further progress in its nuclear program carries no military risk. And that is not all. The pacifists peddle the magical panacea of “direct talks,” even though existing backchannels would more than suffice to end the crisis if Iran were really interested in negotiating. This is shameful as well as illogical: to ask for direct talks after you have laid down your sticks, and all your carrots have been rejected, is simply begging. And allowing the world’s most prolific state-sponsor of terror to have nukes is begging for calamity.

The United States must return to a strong balance-of-power foreign policy. The recent move to place a second aircraft carrier task force in the Gulf is a step in the right direction. From now on, every step forward in Iran’s nuclear program must be met with a reaction calculated to be opposite and at least equal to the increase in strategic threat occasioned by the Iranian move. For example, in response to Iran’s imminent launch of commercial-scale enrichment facilities, it would be both appropriate and prudent to begin cruising destroyers three miles off the coast, using the same tongue-in-cheek proclamations of “peaceful intent” that Iran uses to justify all of its aggressive moves. Preserving the peace in a situation as volatile as this requires energetic management of a dynamic equilibrium. The most reckless thing we could do now would be to back down and do nothing.

There is nothing good which will come about as a result of waiting to confront Iran until they become a nuclear power.