A Shot Across Our Bow
Based on the information laid out in Sen. Lieberman’s WSJ op-ed, it’s obvious that Iran has sent a shot across our bow with its actions. As Sen. Lieberman so eloquently says, it’s time we put the ‘fear of God’ back in them:
However, as Gen. Bergner said on Monday, “There does not seem to be any follow-through on the commitments that Iran has made to work with Iraq in addressing the destabilizing security issues here.” The fact is, any diplomacy with Iran is more likely to be effective if it is backed by a credible threat of force–credible in the dual sense that we mean it, and the Iranians believe it.
Our objective here is deterrence. The fanatical regime in Tehran has concluded that it can use proxies to strike at us and our friends in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Palestine without fear of retaliation. It is time to restore that fear, and to inject greater doubt into the decision-making of Iranian leaders about the risks they are now running.
It’s time for Washington politicians to form a collective spine that says “No More” to Iran’s terrorist-supporting regime. Before our senators debate S.1545, which essentially emasculates Gen. Petraeus’s surge, we should let them know in clear, unambiguous terms that we must defeat Iran’s proxies. It’s time our politicians understood that a vote for S.1545 is tantamount to assuming the fetal position right before our enemies’ eyes.
That isn’t acceptable. Not by a long shot.
I hope the new revelations about Iran’s behavior will also temper the enthusiasm of some of those in Congress who are advocating the immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. Iran’s purpose in sponsoring attacks on American soldiers, after all, is clear: It hopes to push the U.S. out of Iraq and Afghanistan, so that its proxies can then dominate these states. Tehran knows that an American retreat under fire would send an unmistakable message throughout the region that Iran is on the rise and America is on the run. That would be a disaster for the region and the U.S.
The threat posed by Iran to our soldiers’ lives, our security as a nation and our allies in the Middle East is a truth that cannot be wished or waved away. It must be confronted head-on. The regime in Iran is betting that our political disunity in Washington will constrain us in responding to its attacks. For the sake of our nation’s security, we must unite and prove them wrong.
As I said in this post, it’s time we gave our politicians a spinal transplant via email. It’s time to tell them that there’s too much to lose by tying Gen. Petraeus’ hands.
We should also email those politicians/statesmen that stand up for liberty. It’s only appropriate to thank them for their tenacity, vision and wisdom. The first statesman to get such a barrage of emails should be Sen. Lieberman because he’s been a leader in the truest sense of the word.
Technorati Tags: Joe Lieberman, David Petraeus, Victory Caucus, Iran, Pete Domenici, John Warner, Ken Salazar, Iraq, Mahdi Army National Security
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog
July 6th, 2007 at 9:24 am
[...] Cross-posted at California Conservative Categories: Military, National Security, Iraq, Iran, Terrorism, Foreign Policy, Patriotism, Radical Islam, Victory Caucus, Activism | [...]