Iran - Not So Fast

When I read Cheney pushes Bush to act on Iran I was concerned, as I discussed below. I anticipated a very negative reaction from the left but what I did not anticipate was the strong negative reaction from the right. I covered Jules Crittenden below but as it turns out he is not alone. Even among the neocons and wingnuts it appears that Bush and Cheney have little credibility left. While all those below questioned the Guardian report, at rightly so, none of them like the idea of another Bush/Cheney military debacle.

• Hot Air

  My feelings about another Bush-managed war are the same as Dennis Miller’s were in an old bit he used to do about Germany’s reunification: much like a Martin and Lewis reunion, he said, he wasn’t impressed with their previous work and wasn’t really looking forward to seeing any of the new sh*t. Hey, George: Let Fred handle it. Or, god forbid, a Democrat if it comes to that.

• Rick Moran

  Given the immense downside to attacking Iran, it simply makes sense to follow the course laid out by Gates and supported by Secretary Rice while eschewing the arrogant belief by some in the Administration that only they have the cohones to deal with the mullahs effectively and that Clinton and Obama (two Democrats who have not taken the military option off the table with Iran) are weak sisters who would somehow allow a nuclear armed Iran to threaten the peace.

• Dan Drezner

  Dear Mr. President: please leave Iran in limbo
  
  [.....]
  
  The truth is, no matter how many times I game it in my head, I can't see a scenario where, by focusing your energies on Iran and adopting Cheney's perspective on what to do, you make the situation there even a smidgen better. And in almost all of them, you dramatically worsen the problem.

• Ed Morrissey

  We shouldn't discount the military option, of course, but that doesn't mean we should use it in the near future, either. We need to have Iraq stabilized and our forces greatly reduced before we could tackle the much larger nation of Iran. We'd have to have exhausted our diplomatic and economic options.

Now I fully anticipate the lunatics at the Weekly Standard will be all for it, Bill Kristol and Fred Barnes are just as crazy as Cheney, but it would appear that Bush and Cheney have little capitol left even on the right.