Dupes, Dopes

The evident conviction that the latest "intelligence" reports on Iran represent a substantial decline in the likelihood of military confrontation is one of the stupidest beliefs to bubble out of the swamp of American politics in quite some time. The fact that many so-called progressives and antiwar activists accept it as a given that without "intelligence," the administration will be meaningfully disinclined to act aggressively is belied by both history and the current rhetoric coming out of the executive branch. As Arthur notes once again, the practical value of "intelligence" is precisely zero. It's a propoganda point. It has no intrinsic value. Its relevance to the actions of states is irrelevance.

You will note that the president's response to this recent report has not been to moderate his rhetoric, but to harden it, "World War III" talk notwithstanding. Personally, I feel we are closer to escalation into Iran than we have ever been before. The nuclear issue provided, at least, an ongoing debating point, but now there is only Iran, the "State Sponsor of Terror" in the words of our favorite Democrats, who fell over themselves in their recent NPR radio debate to assure us that whether or not Iran was pursuing nuclear weapons, it remained "a threat" that must be "taken seriously." Soon, as the "surge" declines and refugees begin returning to Iraq to find themselves dispossessed, violence will again spike upward, and during that terrible period some ginned-up act of provocation by the "terrorists" in Iran's terror-sponsoring elite military corps will provide a pretext for aerial bombardment. The report motivated our putative allies to begin questioning the necessity and harshness of sanctions and isolation. Ah, once again, the savior of the West must go it alone.