-- David Kay states the obvious, that attacking Iran militarily is an option of last choice. Today on NPR's Fresh Air (yes, yes, I know), Robert Baer was hyping his new book The Devil We Know. He stated several times that "attacking Iran" would be monumentally stupid and unsuccessful.
Am I missing something here? Has anyone in the past couple of years seriously suggested attacks against Iran? Let's look at some of the "usual suspects", both gross stereotypes for rhetorical effect: 1.) a General Turgidson type military official, and 2.) a sniveling "neocon" professor or journalist who eagerly spends American blood for the sake of Israel.
1.) I think it's safe to say that the Pentagon is firmly against action with Iran. We're still stretched thin between Iraq and Afghanistan, we're under-supplied in terms of technology, and any action against Iran would require a resource-load that is simply unfeasible.
2.) C'mon, guys. Neocons might be zealous, but they aren't idiots. They know that they need public-support in order to convince inert D.C.'ers to pursue any bold course, and there is no support anywhere in the world to start a war with Iran.
I had to get that off my chest. Carrying on...
-- Press conference with ISAF commander Gen. McKiernan. Good stuff, but very sobering. I'll keep saying it: we're in for a bad winter fight with the Taliban. Don't act surprised when it happens.
-- While I utterly reject an idea of military action against the mullahs of Iran, I'm all for a Solidarity-style support of dissidents and encouraging Iranians to rebel against the clerics. I mean, what's the difference between the Soviet Union and Iran in cases like this?
-- It's not good news (yet), but it should be noted that Mehsud is probably starting his mortal-coil shuffle about now. It's going to have big consequences in AfPak.
For those who don't know, Mehsud is a villain straight out of Hollywood (picture below). He's the functional head of many of the Islamothugs ruling rural Pakistan, specifically in FATA. He basically created the Pakistani branch of the Taliban, has run a campaign of acquisition by killing rival warlords, and is probably (by my lights) the guy in charge of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.* He's been a several-month long battle against the Pakistani government with his own private army. The dude is one nasty bastard. He's so evil that there is a growing opinion amongst more modern Pakistanis that he's a creation of the CIA in order to turn public opinion against the Islamothugs.
Anyway, Mehsud has/had diabetes (DIABEETUS), and it seems he's close to kicking it, nshallah. When he goes, we'll see if his group Tehrik-i-Talibani Pakistan keeps together. My gut reaction is that it would better benefit the ISAF and Pakistani forces if it splintered, but I could be way off.
-- Finally, nonpolitically, this story just killed me. Possibly the funniest/coolest heist in years, and the most clever use of Craigslist since I traded housewives in the "Missed Connections" page. I hope the robber gets away and blows all the money in a totally irresponsible fashion. That man earned his dollar.
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*Mehsud's response to the accusation of assassinating Bhutto? "Tribal people have their own customs. We don't strike women." Riiight.
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