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Josh Micah Marshall makes an important point. What should be done to contain Iran is beside the point. The only relevant point is that whatever the Bush administration does to contain Iran will be incompetent and counterproductive:
Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall January 16, 2006 11:06 AM : [A] group of commentators (I'd include myself among them)... bought into the basic argument about the danger posed by the Iraqi regime.... [W]hat didn't make sense about 'my' position was that folks like myself were debating Iraq policy in the abstract. How would I deal with Iraq if I were president? What would be the sensible approach if we had a president and foreign policy team... acting in good faith and competent.... That was just a fantasy.... President Bush et al. [were] calling the shots. Any discussion of the issue which didn't take those key facts into account was just a parlor game.... So with Iran.
The prospect of a nuclearized Iran seems far more perilous to me.... [But] there is no Iran Question.... There's only how to deal with Iran with this administration in place. Do you trust this White House's good faith, priorities or competence in dealing with this situation? Based on everything I've seen in almost five years the answer is pretty clearly 'no' on each count.... [T]hat has to be the starting point of the discussion.
