This weekend's announcement that the United States will back the European Union's offer of trade incentives to Iran via the World Trade Organization is a hopeful sign that President Bush is attempting to use diplomacy with Iran, instead of rushing into military action. If Iran is creating a nuclear weapons program, it is in the United States' best interests to keep the country under a close watch. But, foregoing diplomacy would lead our military into another quagmire resembling the current situation in Iraq.
The Bush administration is famously wary of the United Nations' abilities, as seen with their appointment of John Bolton, a known U.N. critic, as the new U.S. ambassador to the international organization. Supporting Iran's membership to the World Trade Organization will hopefully aid the expansion of Iran's economy and make the country more open to foreign intervention. It could also make Iran more willing to talk with the United States, particularly since the U.S. has repositioned its stance on Iran to be in line with the European Union.
The Bush administration has vehemently pointed out that despite economic incentives, negotiations will continue, as to be expected. These talks are vital to learn more about Iran's ambitions and current capabilities. The Bush administration must take these talks seriously, not use them simply as a precursor to military action. Even though Iran is part of the "Axis of Evil," how Bush handles this situation could prove to the international community what lessons he's learned from the war in Iraq.
Military intervention should be reserved as a last resort, especially given the current strains on the U.S. military. The Christian Science Monitor reports today that a Middle East specialist at the Brookings Institution speculates that some proponents for military action in Iran want to use the United Nations because they believe negotiations will fail, and then the United States will easily be able to start a war in Iran. Negotiations cannot be blown off so easily. We are already racking up a huge debt with occupation costs in Iraq and Afghanistan, moving into Iran will only exacerbate budget woes. The U.S. military is stretched beyond capacity, the only way to gather enough troops to invade Iran would be to reinstate the draft, a terribly unpopular option.
Many critics believe the United States was quick to jump into military action in Iraq, but that was two years ago and the U.S. economy has changed greatly since then. The Bush administration must work closely with our European allies and exhaust every option to end Iran's nuclear program, if there is any.
