The Pentagon has no expectations of U.S. military engagement with Iran in the immediate future. While noting that we have the capability to strike Tehran, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Adm. Michael Mullen, says he would prefer a diplomatic solution.
After five long years in Iraq, so would most Americans. And those five long years — full of bad decisions, poor planning and more than 4,000 dead American soldiers — make it all the more important the current administration avoid confrontation with Iran if at all possible.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced last month that his scientists are tripling the size of their nuclear fuel program. Further, there is evidence Iran is doing all it can to fan the flames of violence in Iraq by training insurgents and providing weapons.
There is, however, a moderate segment in Iran that would be strengthened by calm and rational American diplomacy, which has been in short supply under President Bush.
As a major oil supplier, a key to stability in the Middle East and a potential nuclear power, Iran holds an important place on the world stage. Too important for an unaccountable administration to take actions, as it exits the world stage, that could tie the hands of its successors. Leave Iran for the next team in the White House.
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