Why should we bomb the Iranians? Hell, why shouldn’t we? That’s what Shay Khatiri says, over at the Bulwark .
Sure, “the state of Iran’s nuclear program is unclear.” (Translation: we don’t even know if they’re thinking about building a bomb.) But, hey, you can’t be too careful. There’s sure to be something we can bomb and let them know who’s boss. Afraid of retribution? Don’t be. Back in 1988, we sank six of the twelve ships comprising the Iranian navy. They did nothing. In 2020, we murdered Major General Qassem Soleimani, one of the most respected men in the country, and Iran responded with pin pricks. Want still more proof? Not a problem!
Then there is the third and ongoing precedent: Iran has mostly not retaliated against Israel despite all the Israeli sabotage operations inside Iran and direct attacks on Iran’s military in Iraq and Syria.
Got that? These guys are pussies!
Okay, Shay, I got it. Just one question: who are the good guys here, us or the Iranians?
Afterwords
It is “disappointing”, to say the least, that the robustly anti-Trumpian Dispatch, which features excellent writers like William Saletan and Mona Charen and Cathy Young, continues to blindly follow the blindly interventionist policies of Dick Cheney and John Bolton, endlessly repeating the lie that as long as we are “resolute”, nothing bad will ever happen. The other side will always back down. Despite what Shay wants to tell you, this “strategy” failed with North Korea, failed with Iraq, failed with Afghanistan, failed with Syria and failed with Ukraine. But Shay wants to believe that there’s always a first time. Besides, what is he supposed to do, come out for peace? He’d be out of a job!
