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Thursday, February 23, 2006
# Posted 11:49 PM by Ariel David Adesnik
First, Pollack sums up the evidence that Iran has a nuclear program because it wants nuclear weapons. Although Pollack writes that "Iranian involvement in international terrorism...appears to be a manageable threat to the United States", (p.4) the threat of military retaliation is essential to keeping Iranian terrorism in check. If the hardliners got a hold of nuclear weapons, there is good reason to believe that they would feel invulnerable and return to the methods of the mid-90s, such as the attack on Khobar Towers. One of the most interesting points Pollack makes, and one that wouldn't expect to hear from a supposed hawk, is that Iran's implicit cooperation has been an essential reason why the situation in Iraq hasn't gotten much worse. Put differently, If the Iranians had wanted to cause chaos in Iraq, they could have easily done so in the darkest days after the war, and the United States was fortunate that they did not. (p.6)While building up a very strong intelligence operation in Iraq, Iran has not sought to undermine the new government because it sees a Shi'a-led Iraq as one of the best of outcomes it could hope for. Perhaps because his focus in on Iran and not Iraq, Pollack doesn't comment on whether a Shi'a-led Iraq is therefore inimical to US interests. Another critical (and related) point made by Pollack is that the Iranian regime is in a very precarious situation at home because of its failures on the economic front: Given that Iran’s economy continues to flounder even with $60+ per barrel oil prices and its populace has been growing ever more unhappy with its economic plight, Tehran does not need any more instability imported from a chaotic Iraq. (p.7)Thus, the bottom line for Western policymakers is that they can punish Iran economically and that it will hurt. Currently, the Iranian economy is generating roughly 400,000 new jobs a year, but more than 1 million new workers are entering the workforce every year. The ensuing rapid rise in unemployment has fed unrest with the regime, and the technocrats who manage Iran’s economy have warned that only massive, foreign investment (to the tune of $20 billion a year for theThus Pollack recommends a carefully calibrated carrot-and-stick approach that will force the Iranian theocracy to make a clear choice between having nuclear weapons and having a functional economy. Easier said than done, but the core point stands: An robust Western commitment to sanctions can make a difference in Iran. (2) opinions -- Add your opinion
Comments:
"...While building up a very strong intelligence operation in Iraq, Iran has not sought to undermine the new government because it sees a Shi'a-led Iraq as one of the best of outcomes it could hope for."
The recent government negotiations in Iraq were starting to take a turn away from a monopoly of Shiite power. Maybe this is why someone just now decided to throw a spanner in the works by blowing up the shrine.
Mr. Pollack has lost some credibility in my eyes since his book on why Iraq should be invaded proved to be spectacularly incorrect:
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The Threatening Storm Kenneth M. Pollack ISBN: 1588363112 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: Oct 2002
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