Bush's Attack on Guards Backs Iran into Corner
By designating Iran's Revolutionary Guards as terrorists, the Bush administration may be creating a monster instead of beheading one.
Formed by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Revolutionary Guards function as a national army numbering about 125,000. The Guards are a tightly organized, well-trained, well-armed, well-equipped state military unit. We're not talking about shadows in the night like al-Qaida, Hamas or Hezbollah, other designated terrorists. This is tantamount to putting the US Rangers on a terrorist list. It's the first time the army of a sovereign nation has been called a terrorist by the US.
Because the Guards own and control many of the front companies involved in Iran's nuclear efforts, Bush may be trying to go in the back door. Attacking the Guards may be another way of putting pressure on Iran's nuclear ambitions, said Middle East analyst Georgie Anne Geyer in a recent column. (Geyer writes for United Press Syndicate.) Read Geyer's column here.
Bush's attacks on Iran are bound to backfire. Rather than driving apart traditional and liberal elements as he hopes, his efforts will only bind these adversaries in a nationalist movement to protect their country from the US foreign devil.
Formed by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Revolutionary Guards function as a national army numbering about 125,000. The Guards are a tightly organized, well-trained, well-armed, well-equipped state military unit. We're not talking about shadows in the night like al-Qaida, Hamas or Hezbollah, other designated terrorists. This is tantamount to putting the US Rangers on a terrorist list. It's the first time the army of a sovereign nation has been called a terrorist by the US.
Because the Guards own and control many of the front companies involved in Iran's nuclear efforts, Bush may be trying to go in the back door. Attacking the Guards may be another way of putting pressure on Iran's nuclear ambitions, said Middle East analyst Georgie Anne Geyer in a recent column. (Geyer writes for United Press Syndicate.) Read Geyer's column here.
But Bush may be putting too much pressure on Iran. "All of us want to back Iran into a corner," said nuclear proliferation expert Joseph Cirincione, "but we want to give them a way out, too." The terrorist designation "will convince many in Iran's elite that there's no point in talking with us and that the only thing that will satisfy us is a regime change."From recent remarks he has made, it seems that Bush is trying to foment rebellion in Iran. During a recent news conference he said, "My message to the Iranian people is, you can do better than this current government. You don't have to be isolated. You don't have to be in a position where you can't realize your full economic potential."
Bush's attacks on Iran are bound to backfire. Rather than driving apart traditional and liberal elements as he hopes, his efforts will only bind these adversaries in a nationalist movement to protect their country from the US foreign devil.
Labels: foreign policy, Iran, terrorists, US
