NRO neocons are sweating bullets over the election and prospects for war

BurtWorm

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Fri Aug-25-06 10:01 AM
Original message

NRO neocons are sweating bullets over the election and prospects for war

:rofl:

(It's hard not to laugh at their misery, but the truth is, if the Repubs do manage to keep control of Congress, we won't be laughing.)

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZGRmZWY4ODBmZTQ5ZTBlYmNjMDJiNWY5MWVmN2UxMzI=

Lost Luxury <Stanley Kurtz>

We don�t have the luxury of sitting on our hands in the next election. We don�t have the luxury of punishing slack Republican legislators on the theory that this will somehow produce a tougher conservative line in 2008. We don�t have the luxury of all this because a nuclear Iran is bearing down on the United States, while our country stands paralyzed by its own divisions. You can blame Iraq if you like. I blame the Democrats� Vietnam syndrome. But no matter who you blame, the sad fact of the matter is, the president�s hands are tied. The president cannot confront Iran with a credible threat of force, much less actually strike it, without greater domestic support.

A slight Republican win in the next election, or even a draw, would greatly strengthen the president�s hands in dealing with Iran. Not only would a successful election change the dynamics of our international confrontation, a Republican-controlled congress would allow for an even stronger line down the road, after America finally faces up to the reality of the threat. On the other hand, a Democratic victory now would effectively take the option of force against Iran off the table. Yet a credible threat of force is actually our only hope for settling this matter short of war.

Has Iran blocked the IAEA inspectors, thereby forcing us to take pre-emptive action? That�s what Mario Loyala argued yesterday in "Point of No Return in the Iran Nuclear Crisis...?"

Well, Mario, your logic is powerful (and your article in the latest National Review print edition is excellent), but I�m afraid the politics of the moment simply will not support your favored policy. This is a disaster for the United States. We are indeed in grave danger. And there is only one way to change things.

Politics is the answer. Politics constrains us, and politics alone will free us. The Republicans must not lose this election. Don�t mope and tell me you�re sitting on your hands at home instead of voting. There is no excuse. The only good news right now is that we have in our hands the power to protect ourselves. The voting booth is the answer. No, I am not saying Democrats are all unpatriotic pacifists (although, unfortunately, a number of them are). There are genuine policy differences here. The Democrats are far more likely to favor unverifiable grand bargains, and the need for U.N. approval. They are far less likely to approve of pre-emptive military action by a U.S. led "coalition of the willing." So a Democratic victory will tell Iran that nothing of consequence stands between it and the acquisition of nuclear weapons.