The U.S. and Iran: Impending Disaster?

The Bush Administration has long identified Iran as a charter member of the "Axis of Evil", and stories have circulated that the U.S. is planning an attack on that country, either directly or through a surrogate. (Scott Ritter weighs in here.) In my opinion such an attack would be an unmitigated disaster. (In this judgment I am not alone.) With the election of a hardline Iranian president, I fear there are those in the United States who will beat the war drums even more loudly. Yes, Iran is gaining nuclear weapons capacity, and yes it has obtained missile technology from outside nations, such as China. What of it? The United States faced a nuclear armed USSR for many years and not only survived but prevailed in the long Cold War struggle. I am at a loss to understand why deterrence wouldn't work against the Iranians. I think the presence of one or two Trident submarines, each carrying 240 warheads, in the Indian Ocean would be a sobering reminder to Iran of what would happen should it unleash an attack against the U.S. or U.S. forces in the Middle East. There are other ways to deal with this situation, and it is in our interests to pursue them. (Note by the way the date on this publication.) An attack on Iran would have tragic consequences; diplomacy is the only sane course of action.