National Review’s Rich Lowry:
A major irony in Bush’s policy is that Iran appears to be much better primed than Iraq for a transition to democratic government (although Iraq is managing it anyway). It hasn’t been devastated by sanctions and war the way Iraq was; its faux elections let people at least exercise their democratic muscles; and the country has a relatively well-developed civil society. [my emphasis]
Just give it some time, Rich!
More seriously, Lowry’s comment does cut to the core contradiction of the neocon position on Iran. The same people who so self-righteously hold themselves up as champions of the slain Neda and protectors of innocent Iranians want nothing more than to ramp up sanctions (which, as Fred Kagan forthrightly admitted, will have the immediate effect of killing innocent Iranians) followed in all likelihood by military strikes (the destructive effects of which should need no explanation.) The fact that war with Iran would likely consolidate the hardliners’ power and snuff out the opposition similarly does not seem to factor into the thinking of these courageous defenders of the Iranian people.
It is the same people who supported the US first war against Iraq,the devstating sanctions,the lies that led to the invesion and the destruction of Iraq.And when all the lies were exposed,they quickly claimed all that was done for the sake,and love of the Iraqi people!Talk about tough love indeed!
The driving force behind this desire to destroy Iran is Zionism, which is a racist and deeply hateful expansion of Israel at the expense of all of its neighbors. America drags its hems in the gutter by walking along with these people.