Over the last three decades, one of the regimes least amenable to diplomatic pressure from the West has been Iran.

Which is, of course, why there is such pressure to solve the problem of the Iranian nuclear program through diplomacy.

President Bush, in an appearance before reporters at the White House earlier Wednesday, was asked about increasing speculation that Israel will attack, saying all options remain on the table but that military action would not be his first choice.

"I have made it very clear to all parties that the first option ought to be solve this problem diplomatically," Bush said. "And the best way to solve it diplomatically is for the United States to work with other nations to send a focused message — and that is, you will be isolated, and you will have economic hardship, if you continue to enrich" uranium for a bomb.

Sorry -- with oil at $146 a barrel, it is unlikely that Iran is going to be facing economic hardship any time soon. And given the fungibility of a commodity like oil, it is very possible for Iran to sell its oil to other countries despite an embargo -- indeed, the US has not bought oil from Iran for three decades, yet the Iranians have never had any difficulty selling oil on the world market.

What's more, the Israelis have an indisputable right to defend themselves from Iran -- and given the repeated threats with nuclear overtones made by Mahmoud the mad against Israel, it seems to me that there is a clear basis for Israel to believe that the program is intended to develop nuclear weapons with but a single target -- Israel.

So it is all well and good to call for a diplomatic solution to the current situation. It isn't our survival as a nation at stake. On the other hand, for Israel this is a matter of life and death.

Posted by: Greg at 12:41 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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