Growing elite opposition to strike on Iran

[xchrom]

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NA28Ak04.html

WASHINGTON - Like the imminent prospect of one's hanging, to paraphrase the 18th century British essayist Dr (Samuel) Johnson, the suddenly looming possibility of war can concentrate the mind wonderfully.

If that aphorism didn't apply in the run-up to the United States invasion of Iraq nearly 10 years ago, it appears to be the case now for key sectors of the US foreign-policy elite - notably, liberal hawks who supported the Iraq war - with regard to the sharp rise in tensions between Iran and both the US and Israel earlier this month.

Amid a crescendo of threats by senior Israeli officials to attack Iran's nuclear facilities, the murder, presumably by Mossad, of a fifth Iranian nuclear scientist in the past several years, and a



sharp escalation of Western economic sanctions designed to "cripple" Iran's economy, Tehran's threat to close the Strait of Hormuz brought the until-then hypothetical possibility of war - whether by design, provocation or accident - sharply into view.

The hawkish declarations by Republican presidential candidates eager to prove their love for Israel to Christian fundamentalists and Jewish voters and donors didn't help, nor did a renewed and intensified drumbeat for "regime change" by some of the same neo-conservatives from institutions like the American Enterprise Institute and the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies that led the drive to war in Iraq.

[denverbill]

1. If Iran blocks the Strait, limited military strikes, but no invasion, should be an option.

Although I'm extremely opposed to any military action against Iran related to their nuclear program, if they do attempt to block shipping it will result in a military response, I'm 100% certain of that.

My point is that we could sink their ships and disable their weapons which could attack shipping in the Straits, but not launch an all-out war. I know the Neocon/AIPAC alliance wants nothing less than regime change, but I think Obama should at least consider a limited response.

[David__77]

2. It would be perfectly legal for Iran to deny access to its territorial waters.

Thankfully, Iran's self-defense capability is improving so that it discourages foreign aggression.

The US should seek to establish diplomatic relations with Iran and to maintain friendly, cooperative relations.