Tannishblog

The Law of Unintended Consequences has raised its laughing head once again. The NY Times notes that our Terrible War on Terror has effectively strengthened Tehran’s hold on the Middle East:

Washington has now become dangerously dependent on the good will and constructive behavior of Shiite fundamentalist parties that Iran sheltered, aided and armed during the years that Saddam Hussein ruled Iraq. In recent weeks, neither good will nor constructive behavior has been particularly evident, and if Iran chooses to stir up further trouble to deflect diplomatic pressures on its nuclear program, it could easily do so.

There is now a real risk that Iraq, instead of being turned into an outpost of secular democracy challenging the fanatical rulers of the Islamic republic to its east, could become an Iranian-aligned fundamentalist theocracy, challenging the secular Arab regimes to its west.

Of further note is the connection to our new “Noocular” Pact with India.

Fast-forward to Thursday’s nuclear deal with India, in which President Bush agreed to share civilian nuclear technology with India despite its nuclear weapons programs and its refusal to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

This would be a bad idea at any time, rewarding India for flouting the basic international understanding that has successfully discouraged other countries from South Korea to Saudi Arabia from embarking on their own efforts to build nuclear weapons. But it also undermines attempts to rein in Iran, whose nuclear program is progressing fast and unnerving both its neighbors and the West.

The India deal is exactly the wrong message to send right now, just days before Washington and its European allies will be asking the International Atomic Energy Agency to refer Iran’s case to the United Nations Security Council for further action. Iran’s hopes of preventing this depend on convincing the rest of the world that the West is guilty of a double standard on nuclear issues. Mr. Bush might as well have tied a pretty red bow around his India nuclear deal and mailed it as a gift to Tehran.

This seems to me a new twist on the game of “Cowboys and Indians” with meaner weapons. Now that we have a partner in potential nulear hijinks, we can get serious. The Texas Bad-boy and his cronies have already done their homework and created a long list of enemies to play against. With the technology of warfare outstripping humanity’s capacity for diplomacy, the whole world should tremble as the Warmonger Party starts playing with nukes. It seems that white phosphorus is trite already; one can only burn the faces of so many children before boredom sets in. Now that the end of the presidency of George the Unready is in view, its time to dust off our aging nukes and see what we can do with them. Either we “upgrade” or we use them. Time will tell.

Yee-haw!