New Yorker Magazine: U.S. Preparing to Attack Iran

This article from the New Yorker by Seymour Hersh claims (from anonymous sources) that plans for attacking Iran are well underway, including potentially using tactical nuclear weapons for bunker-busting. According to sources, US special operations forces are already operating in Iran. Let's hope this is all true.

One source claims that Iran has always been a major focus for Bush: "A government consultant with close ties to the civilian leadership in the Pentagon said that Bush was 'absolutely convinced that Iran is going to get the bomb' if it is not stopped. He said that the President believes that he must do 'what no Democrat or Republican, if elected in the future, would have the courage to do,' and 'that saving Iran is going to be his legacy.'"

One critic's concern? "Speaking of President Bush, the House member said, 'The most worrisome thing is that this guy has a messianic vision.'"

Umm, no, Mr. Honorable House Member. The most worrisome thing is that Iran is a theocratic dictatorship on the brink of acquiring nuclear weapons, and that the President of Iran really does have a messianic vision:

"Ahmadinejad, who has drawn global attention recently for his contention the Holocaust was a 'myth', said: 'We don't shy away from declaring that Islam is ready to rule the world.' Riazaty, in a post on the website Regime Change Iran, said the Iranian president emphasized his current theme that the return of the Shiite messiah, the Mahdi, is not far away, and Muslims must prepare for it."

Another critic cited in the New Yorker "...warned, as did many others, that bombing Iran could provoke 'a chain reaction' of attacks on American facilities and citizens throughout the world: 'What will 1.2 billion Muslims think the day we attack Iran?'"

Here's exactly what they will think. If they are semi-rational, they will think: 'It is objectively true that a religious dictatorship like Iran is a threat to anyone who values the freedom to pursue his own happiness and enjoy life on earth; thank goodness the U.S. stopped Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.' If they are not rational, and were sypmathetic to Iran, they will think: 'We'd better not mess with the U.S., or we could be next.'

Criticisms like this one often superficially masquerade as 'practical objections', but actually they represent profound philosophical differences on questions like: Is appeasement moral and/or practical? Should we worry about what others think? Are truth and justice a matter of international consensus? etc.

In any case, let's hope we get the chance to find out what 1.2 billion Muslims will think on that day.