20060314
    This is a lesson we all should have learned a long time ago: straw walls do not keep out wolves. The recent contention that Iran may be contained by a method similar to that used to check the expansion of the Stalinist Soviet Union shows the depth of misunderstanding that Western politicians and diplomats have about the nature of the threat a nuclear armed Iran poses to the world. The fact that such an idea has come to light at all, let alone from the likes of the US Secretary of State and British Foreign Secretary proves that the West is not truly prepared to face that threat with the resolve necessary to defeat it.
    A ‘cold war’ containment policy against Iran is destined to fail because Iran does not hold the same mutual self interest that the Soviets held in its détente with the West. Instead, Iran holds to a religious ideology that leads them to believe that Allah will deliver their enemies into their hands, whatever the present facts may be. With that mindset, the threat of retaliation for the use of a nuclear weapon just does not matter because, in their view, they will be protected from such retaliation by divine providence.
    The lesson to be learned from this fact is that religious zealotry cannot be contained by traditional politics and diplomacy. It must be faced by a firm and consistent front of nations and peoples that, when necessary, must be willing to use force to put an end to such a threat. Without such front, radical ideology will always defeat politics and diplomacy.
    Make no mistake: if Iran gains a nuclear weapon, by whatever means, that weapon will eventually be used, either by Iran itself or by one of its proxy terrorist organizations. The religious zealotry that fuels the totalitarian theocracy of Iran will not be able to resist striking at an enemy it regularly characterizes as the ‘Great Satan’. The hatred displayed by these words are not mere rhetoric, they are part of a deeply held belief that drives these radicals to believe that there are destined only to be Muslims and dead infidels.
    If the West fails to understand the motivations that drive Iran and its terrorist proxies toward securing weapons of mass destruction, it accepts upon itself the consequences of such a failure, and those consequences will be dire. Consider that the religious zealotry of Iran and its terrorist proxies already motivate their followers to kill themselves in homicide bombings and kidnap, torture, and brutally execute people who are often innocent or there to help. How much more violent will these same people be in possession of nuclear weapons?
    The thought that Iran might gain these weapons is not an inevitable one as some seem to believe. Instead, to prevent Iran from creating such a dire threat, the international community, especially the West must resolve itself that action must be taken and taken soon. This action will likely have to be military, and it will likely have far reaching consequences. Failure to take action and its consequences, whether that failure is meaningless diplomacy or impossible containment, is not an acceptable alternative.
DLH
