Why Wait to Bomb Iran? Find Out at Cato Unbound!

Gene quotes warmongering Bill Kristol below:

We might consider countering this act of Iranian aggression with a military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities. Why wait? Does anyone think a nuclear Iran can be contained? That the current regime will negotiate in good faith? It would be easier to act sooner rather than later.

Why wait to bomb Iran? As it happens, the best discussion of this question anywhere is happening right next door at Cato Unbound.

In his reply to Reuel Marc Gerecht's Kristol-compatible brief for bombing, Edward Luttwak says he is not averse to an in-and-out quick strike to impede the develop of Iranian nukes, if it comes to that in the three or more years it will take Iran to develop the bomb. But, Luttwak says, it may not come to that, because there is plenty to be done in the meantime. Luttwak's Center for Strategic and International Studies colleague Anthony Cordesman says diplomacy could work, and we should keep doing what we're doing. Bombing might not actually keep Iran from getting nukes, and even if the U.S. exhausts all non-military options, we should at least wait until we know where the targets are. Cato's vice president for defense and foreign policy studies Ted Galen Carpenter says bombing Iran might trigger a “massive regional crisis,” and that “America’s troubles with the Islamic world do not yet constitute a war of civilizations,” but attacks "could well produce that result.”

Why wait? Well, those are a few reasons. And containment? Carpenter, for one, argues that if we successfully contained a nuclear Soviet Union and China, we can contain a nuclear Iran. Don't miss the detailed discussion about the future of American policy for this hotspot in the volatile Middle East.