There is a growing conviction among members of the United States military, and in the international community, that President Bush’s ultimate goal in the nuclear confrontation with Iran is regime change. Iran’s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has challenged the reality of the Holocaust and said that Israel must be “wiped off the map.” Bush and others in the White House view him as a potential Adolf Hitler, a former senior intelligence official said. “That’s the name they’re using. They say, ‘Will Iran get a strategic weapon and threaten another world war?’ ”
A government consultant with close ties to the civilian leadership in the Pentagon said that Bush was “absolutely convinced that Iran is going to get the bomb” if it is not stopped. He said that the President believes that he must do “what no Democrat or Republican, if elected in the future, would have the courage to do,” and “that saving Iran is going to be his legacy.”
Afghanistan remains unfinished, the administration has failed the forces on the ground trying to rebuild Iraq; now this? I hope Hersh is correct and that the military is taking the situation seriously enough to be speaking out.
By now, I think everyone has heard the concerns that the U.S. military is stressed to its breaking point. That doesn't mean they can not act, in an emergency they can still handle any other force, but only for a short time. A new, sustained front is likely beyond the capability of the current force. The only real option would be air strikes.
Airstrikes may sound like a viable option, but unlike the Balkans, Iran has the capacity to hit back. At the very least they could make a successful rebuilding of Iraq a distant dream, they wouldn't even have to do much.
Bush may want to invade Iran to secure his legacy, but it is unlikely to be one to be looked upon with much pride. Perhaps he should be thinking of the long-term affects of his actions rather then worry over his legacy.
- Murphy
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