MORE CARROTS AND MORE STICKS

The Bush administration continues to win support for more sanctions against Iran should they fail to cease the production of nuclear materials. At the same time, the administration is leaving open its negotiating channel in regard to the security of Iran. In other words, the Bush administration wants to leave a peace keeping force in Iraq.

After 26 million Russians were killed during WWII, Germany was split in parts and Russian troops were stationed in the East and US troops were stationed in the West. The US did not interfere in the German economy and West Germany prospered. It is understandable that the Russians were bitter. They extracted reparations from the former Germanic states. The US, German and other Eastern Europe citizens ultimately won the cold war because the West allowed our new friends to prosper. There were tense times along the way and the US did have to perform an airlift of goods to Berlin during one stretch. The US needed to be there to allow the war torn nation to heal.


The left paints George Bush as an evil man but George wants peace. His execution of this war was designed to have as few deaths as possible. After about 3,000 US citizens were killed on 9/11, the war in Iraq was begun with a shock and awe campaign in which the might of the US military was displayed by taking out infrastructure. Few people were killed. Only when insurgents came in from Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc were there significant numbers of lives lost. The invasion of Iran would have been far more costly in lives and treasure.

There is an excellent chance that war with Iran will be avoided. Yet there is an excellent chance that Iran will agree to suspend its support for terrorist. There is an excellent chance that Iran will cease the production of nuclear fuel but there is an excellent chance that Iran will receive abundant supplies of enriched uranium for power generation purposes.

It remains to be seen if Amadinejhad will be "thrown under the bus". He or his successor needs to do a deal and get on with the many commercial deals that have been negotiated. The most recent commercial negotiations have included Russia's readiness to develop one of the northern fields.

The left leaning press continues to talk about Bush going up against Iran which is supported by Russia and China. The fact of the matter is that Russia and China are on our side. Americans tend to forget that it was Russia and China who lost the most during WWII. We forget the role they played in defeating Russia and Japan. Iran is the loose cannon here, not George Bush. George is busy working out carrot and stick deals. Iran is busy trying to figure out how to build a nuclear bomb (oh sure, the people are suffering greatly in order to build a nuclear power facility that has been offered free of charge).