CHENEY WOULD LIKE A WAR AGAINST IRAN

David Sanger writes in today's The New York Times that Vice President Dick Cheney warned Iran that the United States was prepared to use its military might if Iran tried to develop nuclear weapons or if it tried to dominate the Middle East.

"Vice President Dick Cheney used the deck of an American aircraft carrier just 150 miles off Iran's coast as the backdrop yesterday to warn that the United States was prepared to use its naval power to keep Tehran from disrupting oil routes or “gaining nuclear weapons and dominating this region.” . . ."

"“With two carrier strike groups in the gulf, we’re sending clear messages to friends and adversaries alike,” he said, according to an official transcript of his remarks. “We’ll keep the sea lanes open. We’ll stand with our friends in opposing extremism and strategic threats. We’ll disrupt attacks on our own forces. We’ll continue bringing relief to those who suffer, and delivering justice to the enemies of freedom. And we’ll stand with others to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons and dominating this region.”"

This is an amazing paragraph. Take the last three words, "dominating this region." Why does the United States care who dominates the Persian Gulf? If the answer is oil, then why must the U.S. continually resort to military force instead of diplomacy to get what it wants? One would think that Bush and Cheney might have learned a lesson from Vietnam that a nation, no matter how large its inventory of war planes and incendiary bombs, cannot dictate to the rest of the world by use of its military force.

Nothing is ever permanently won by military force or aggression. The secret to good foreign relations is the use of diplomacy. In other words, why can't the United States befriend Iran? The Iranians are like everyone else. They want peace and good foreign relations. I am sure they resent being threatened with military force by Cheney and Bush.

We cannot permit Bush or Cheney to start a war against Iran. Given Cheney's speech from the aircraft carrier quoted above, I have no doubt that Bush and Cheney would like nothing better than a war with Iran. Bush sees everything in stark terms of good versus evil. But suppose it is really Bush and Cheney and the Americans who are the evil mongers? The problem is we don't know for sure. Perhaps Iran is the shining beacon of pure light. Then a war by the U.S. against Iran would mean forces of evil starting a bloody war against the forces of good.