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Saturday, January 28, 2006

Iran: Mail about the "Countdown" pieces

Newsweek's Online Mail Call published a good sampling of readers' comments on the two "Countdown to a Showdown" articles:

David from New York likes the idea of a gasoline embargo. “But if things get bad, and bombing will be ineffective,” he writes, “I have a better military alternative: a large-scale raid in which a regiment or brigade-sized unit with engineers is airlifted to Natanz, prepared to fend off attacks for a week, supported by all the aircraft we have. We take everything we can, and destroy everything else. This way, we can be sure the site is destroyed.”

Debby from Cincinnati has another idea: “This absolutely confirms my belief that the world must get off the petroleum ‘habit’ and start developing solar, geothermal, wind and nuclear sources of fuel.”

Teddy, who didn’t give her hometown, writes, “Very well written, thoughtful and insightful article. A gas ‘quarantine’ will have some risks, but any action we take will have some consequences. It's just a question of how much we're willing to suffer to achieve our objective.”

Craig from Spokane, Wash., disagrees: “[United Nations] sanctions are words in the wind. Sanctions did not result in regime change in Iraq or North Korea and they certainly won't affect Iran. Who is the [International Atomic Energy Agency] and U.N. kidding other than themselves?”

Will from Covington, Ga., writes: “The article raises more questions than answers. What will sanctions accomplish? Is war inevitable since sanctions will not come from the Chinese or the Russians? Where does Iran's oil go? How forceful will ElBaradei's words be to convince the world of possible danger? When or where will Israel act?”

John from Collinsville, Ill., asks: “Why would we sell and or ship anything to a known enemy? Iran has been a bad guy since the Jimmy Carter days and hates the United States. Even food should not be shipped to the enemy. I am not a hawk, however we have to quit being the supplier of goods and aid to countries that use it against us. This includes food and medical supplies.”

Becka, who didn’t give her hometown, says Dickey’s column is “filled with eerie paranoia.”

But Ed from Bethel, Ala., says the threat may be all too real: “My common sense tells me that here we go again. We will be haunted with threats of nuclear weapons from Iran, until, unfortunately, there is military action taken. I think that what is forgotten in the Iraqi situation is that President Bush announced to the world that Saddam and his sons had … to step down from power, or the U.S. was coming in, all because they weren't in compliance. Iran is going down the same path.”

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