A Plan to Curb Iran’s Nuclear Proliferation Program Genuine or Wag the Dog Part II?

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In recent months, we witnessed another attempted terrorist attack in New York City, a fierce Taliban insurgency along the Afghan-Pakistani border, Al Qaeda networks flourishing in Yemen, a shaky election with no results in Iraq, and the ongoing crippling of Gaza and expansion of settlements in Jerusalem and the West Bank.  Yet, if you were to ask a member of Congress or the State Department what the biggest threat to US security and stability is, there is a good chance they would tell you it is Iran’s potential nuclear capabilities. Yet, how Congress or the State Department would go about actually containing Iran’s nuclear capabilities remains unanswered.   

As European and Russian summits are held to address Iran’s plans to develop nuclear weapons, insurgencies carry out suicide bombings in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thereby, the Taliban gains power over more villages across Afghanistan and Pakistan.  Gaza lies in rubble.  Begging the question of whether the focus on a nuclear Iran is a "Wag the Dog" sequel aimed to divert our attention from the real impasse in the region.

Wag the Dog is a 1997 film about what happens when the President’s advisors contact a top Hollywood producer in order to manufacture a war in Albania that the president can heroically end through mass media in order to divert attention from the President’s internal problems.    

Let me be clear. I am by no means an advocate of putting nuclear weapons in the hands of this brutal regime, but the sudden barrage of fear, punditry and media attention assessed against Iran’s potential nuclear capabilities by the US, Israel and European allies begs greater attention.  Will US plans to assess additional sanctions against the Iranian people deter the regime from developing nuclear weapons?  Or would a third war in the Middle East by way of preemptive strike (via Israel) on Iran’s nuclear capabilities really result in greater peace and security in the Middle East?

There is no evidence to suggest that more sanctions on top of thirty plus years of sanctions will preclude the Iranian regime from pursuing nuclear weapons.  Bring on more sanctions and you will get more or less the same results you have gotten since the initiation of sanctions in 1979.  On the other hand, a preemptive military strike via nuclear powerhouse, Israel, would likely make all of Ahmadenejad’s dreams come true, emboldening his regime to respond in kind.  Clearly, a third and perhaps final war will not solve our woes of instability in the region.  

The solution is far more complex and difficult to attain than another barrage of sanctions or military strikes, but the solution is clearly not found in Iran.  The bottom line is that until a viable and peaceful Iraqi, Afghan, and Palestinian state are established, it will be impossible to garner a real solution to peace and security in the region.  Only after the US and its allies become advocates for peace by way of ending wars and garnering peace in the region, can they be considered genuine advocates of non-proliferation in Iran; and absolutely not the other way around.  Otherwise, efforts at “containing” Iran’s nuclear capabilities will resemble nothing more than a Hollywood movie with a terribly bad ending.    




Nanaz Kashefi is an attorney and published author.

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