Like Afghanistan before it, Iraq is only one theater in a regional war. We were attacked by a network of terrorist organizations supported by several countries, of whom the most important were Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Saudi Arabia.
Michael Ledeen
The Iranians excel at identifying potential recruits for terrorist attacks, and then recruiting and training them.
Iranians hate Arabs. They're a fairly well-educated population and they have centuries of experience with self-government.
So be it. God created profoundly fallible creatures on this earth, and human history is mostly the story of error and accident.
China is a civilization pretending to be a nation.
The 'Axis of Evil' was - and is - very real, as the tyrants of Iran, Iraq, and North Korea knew full well.
I think Hadley is to Rice as Scowcroft was to Kissinger; not inclined to think or act independently.
If you're convinced that you face bad options, then by all means take the least bad.
It's hard not to be in favor of taking down monsters.
Fighting back against Iran is difficult and costly. No American president from Carter to Obama has been willing to take it on.