When a country goes nuclear, there is almost no way to contain it. The solution is prevention, and during the last five years weak foreign policy towards Iran hasn’t worked. To see what ‘containment’ of Iran would be like, take a look at how contained North Korea is.
Unlike Kim Jong Un, Ahmadinejad likely wouldn’t hesitate pulling the trigger on Israel, either. They don’t care about losing lives, let alone the entire country from repercussusions, so long as the Mahdi’s return can be quickened.
In hindsight, the Obama administration is, by design, intentionally giving them a free pass under the guise of ignorance — as you don’t make 1000 mistakes in a row and get to be called ignorant. Regardless of what Kahl says, this is an act of counsel and endorsement of containment.
One of the Obama administration’s most senior former Middle East officials says in a report released Monday that the United States needs to develop a plan to contain Iran should it develop a nuclear weapon.
Colin Kahl, who served as Obama’s deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East until December 2011 when he transitioned to the president’s reelection campaign, writes in a new report that “if all else fails” the administration could be forced to “shift toward containment [of Iran] regardless of current preferences.”
Critics of the administration say the report appears to mark a significant departure from the administration’s stated policy of discounting containment as a viable option regarding Iran.
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“Although the United States is not likely to acquiesce to the emergence of a nuclear-armed Iran, Tehran may be able to achieve an unstoppable breakout capability or develop nuclear weapons in secret before preventive measures have been exhausted,” the report states.
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One Iran expert and former Pentagon adviser said the CNAS report represents a significant step in a dangerous direction.
“Kahl and crew seemingly have no sense of the damage to America’s standing in the region that a nuclear Iran could do,” said Michael Rubin, a former Pentagon adviser on Iran and Iraq.
“Why would any state in the Persian Gulf trust America to have its back after men like Kahl counsel the United States to cast aside its past promises to prevent a nuclear Iran?” he asked. “Why would they risk hosting the bases upon which containment would rest?”
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“Kahl fails to understand the reasons why containment and deterrence are so risky: He doesn’t address who would have command and control of an Iranian nuclear bomb,” Rubin said.
“In reality, it would be not only the Revolutionary Guards but the most hardline and ideologically pure faction inside that organization,” he said.
Kahl maintains that his views “don’t represent the administration position in any way.”
“Neither our allies nor Iran is likely to read what I say as representing official views,” he said when asked if the report could be misinterpreted by U.S. allies as a tacit endorsement of containment.
Full article: Considering Containment — Report coauthored by former Obama aide suggests containment must be considered (Washington Free Beacon)
Global Geopolitics 