It?s also telling that Democrats are chiding Bush for not mentioning Iran. Days before the president spoke, vice presidential nominee John Edwards told the Post his side has a plan for dealing with Iran: Allow the Iranians to fire up nuclear power plants if they?ll agree to hand over their nuclear waste.
And if Tehran balks? ?If in fact this is a bluff and [Iran is] trying to develop nuclear weapons capability, then we know that our European friends will stand with us,? Edwards said. Ah. So, Kerry-Edwards thinks it would be all right to take action, presumably military action, to stop Iran?s nuclear program.
Let?s ignore the fact that, even as they?re chiding Bush for actually dealing with Iraq, they?re chiding him for not dealing with Iran. Instead, let?s focus on Edwards? specific claim: Would our European allies stand with us? It seems unlikely.
Back in June, Iranian troops crossed the border into Iraq, forced eight British servicemen into Iran, and then detained them. The Brits were paraded blindfolded on television. They were forced to apologize for their supposed ?incursion.? The British government was forced to apologize, too. The men were returned after four days in captivity, but their equipment wasn?t.
When the ordeal was over, Jack Straw, the British foreign secretary, announced, ?I am in no doubt at all that our policy of engagement with the government of Iran is the best approach.? Yes, that policy is clearly working well.
And remember, this is the behavior of our closest European ally. If the Brits don?t want to confront Iran when their military reputation is on the line, why would any reasonable person think any other European nation would be willing to confront Tehran?
In just the last few weeks, John Kerry has announced that he?d still have voted for the Iraq war, even if he?d known then what he knows now. Yet he also accuses President Bush of ?misleading? the nation into ?the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time.?
Maybe, before Kerry-Edwards launch us into a solo war with Iran, they ought to get their stories straight about the coalition war we just fought in Iraq.