It's no secret that all sides in the Iranian nuclear standoff are preparing for war. I'm getting ready too and will be on a plane as soon as I am called up.
One thing that may surprise regular readers is that I actually am ok with the Obama approach on this looming conflict. I don't like much about Obama. I tend to agree with those who accuse him of engaging in class warfare (especially since I am a high income earner and thus the target of much of his rhetoric). In fact, I don't think there is much that Obama has done that merits anything more positive than slight disgust (with much of it meriting copious disgust). He's been a horrible President and seems to govern by pitting one group against another (something President Bush never did) and passing off the blame for his failures to prior administrations (even though he was in Congress at that time, so he obviously has culpability for what happened from 2006 onward).
But when it comes to Iran, I think that the "go slow, use sanctions" approach is the right one. This is not because my ass is on the line in any war that breaks out. I've been in combat with Iranian proxies before (Hezbollah) and am not afraid of fighting them again. If I am killed, so be it. I am willing to die to defend my people. And I absolutely believe that the Iranian regime is more than willing to slaughter millions of innocent people in order to strike at Israel. Anyone who has a basic knowledge of post-Shah Iranian history knows that the Iranian theocracy has not hesitated in torturing, maiming and killing their own people in great numbers (read A Time to Betray, a book by a former Iranian Revolutionary Guard, for an excellent glimpse at the Islamic regime's brutality).
So in order to harm the ultimate enemy (Israel and Jews), one has to believe that they will happily exchange hundreds of thousands or millions of causalities (even Muslim ones) to hobble or destroy Israel.
Thus, I am very aware that the Iranian threat is real, that them having nuclear weapons would be catastrophic and that preventing them from obtaining such weapons is worth going to war.
BUT, and I say this with no respect for President Obama otherwise (I keep hearing the voice of Jen Kirkman saying "he's a BIG NERD", from her brilliant CD Hail to the Freaks*), the last thing we need is for the Iranian people, who generally despise the Islamic regime that holds them hostage, to be galvanized against an outside force attacking them.
My hope is that the sanctions will make life so difficult for the Iranian people that they finally rise up against the Mullahs and overturn the entire regime. This nearly happened a few years ago when Ahmadenijad stole the election and I think there is a very good chance of it happening, successfully, if the Iranian people blame their leaders for the suffering they endure from sanctions. It is well known that most Iranians hate their leaders and would institute a less oppressive, less antagonistic regime if they were desperate enough. I think we're on the cusp of that happening now and if the US and/or Israel were to militarily attack Iran the people would have no choice but to back their ruling regime.
I can not emphasize enough how much I dislike Obama, and I don't think he is doing this deliberately, but the use of sanctions rather than military action is the right way to go. At the point where the Iranians are almost in possession of nuclear weapons, this position will change, but for now we have to go with sanctions.
*Yes, I know, I am politically conservative and she is politically liberal, and there is no reason for her to be one of my heroes, but she's smart and funny and if you listen to her comedy or read her tweets you'll see that this is one rare circumstance where a liberal is thought provoking.
