The Unthinkable Option

Roger Cohen, op-ed columnist for the NY Times, who usually writes from Europe, in his latest piece questions what the US might be thinking to do about Iran:

"When it comes to Iran, the choice of metaphor is limited.

“I would never take a military option off the table,” Barack Obama declared during the campaign, a position unchanged since he became president.

“We are not taking any option off the table at all,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said at her Senate confirmation hearing.

As for Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, he tweaked the mantra this way: “The military option must be kept on the table.”

All three have also talked up dialogue with Iran. But the question, more pressing since Iran fired its Islamic satellite into orbit this week, remains: what in reality is this threat of force and what purpose does it serve?

I’ve read think-tank scenarios that have the United States bombing Iran’s nuclear installations at Natanz, hitting Iranian military bases to limit the response, imposing a naval blockade and infiltrating special forces from Iraq or Afghanistan. After eight Bush-Cheney years, such plans exist at the Pentagon.

To which my response is: Hang on a second."

Continue to read this piece here - including the dire prognosis Cohen gives were the US to attack Iran in some form or other.

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