LINDSEY GRAHAM IN A CONFRONTATIONAL MOOD…. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan haven’t exactly been sterling successes. The center-right establishment seems to think the third time will be the charm in Iran.
Last week, David Broder presented a military confrontation with Iran as some sort of inevitability, adding that “accelerating preparations for war” with Iran will necessarily “improve” the economy. Both points were presented without support.
Now, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is singing a similar tune.
If President Barack Obama “decides to be tough with Iran beyond sanctions, I think he is going to feel a lot of Republican support for the idea that we cannot let Iran develop a nuclear weapon,” he told the Halifax International Security Forum.
“The last thing America wants is another military conflict, but the last thing the world needs is a nuclear-armed Iran… Containment is off the table.”
The South Carolina Republican saw the United States going to war with the Islamic republic “not to just neutralize their nuclear program, but to sink their navy, destroy their air force and deliver a decisive blow to the Revolutionary Guard, in other words neuter that regime.”
Sure, piece of cake. We’d no doubt go in, destroy Iran’s entire military infrastructure, and be home in time for dinner. It’s only a large Middle Eastern country of 75 million people, two and a half times the size of Texas, while U.S. troops continue to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan. What could possibly go wrong?
Any sentence that begins, “The last thing America wants is another military conflict, but…” isn’t going to end on an encouraging note.
Lindsey Graham went on to talk publicly about the likelihood of a forthcoming “period of confrontation” with China over its “cheating” currency manipulation.
If saber-rattling was evidence of wisdom, Republicans like Graham would be geniuses.
