1. I like the Iranian reformers more than I like the mass politics of solidarity by symbolism.
2. Imitating the right things for a people to say or do does not make those things the right ones for a President to do.
3. If Iran really has imported 5,000 Hezbollah enforcers, a more robust official US response may be mandatory.
4. Max Boot’s understanding of the reform movement in Iran is severely flawed. But I believe he is right that even ‘the good guys’ want a nuclear program that violates international law. (thru Peter Suderman)
June 16th, 2009 | 9:07 am
[...] James Poulous, “I like the Iranian reformers more than I like the mass politics of solidarity by [...]
June 16th, 2009 | 10:28 am
“3. If Iran really has imported 5,000 Hezbollah enforcers, a more robust official US response may be mandatory.”
What do you suggest is the appropriate US response?
June 16th, 2009 | 10:48 am
Not that I want Iran to build nuclear weapons, mind you. But the debate chafes, because it assumes a moral authority that I think is self-defeating, coming from a country that has the biggest nuclear arsenal in the world.
June 16th, 2009 | 10:51 am
Bob — I have to say I don’t know yet, and think I should wait until the rumors are perhaps a bit better substantiated. Freddie — let’s not seek solace in the false dignity of denying ourselves any claim to moral authority at all. Our arsenal is legal and shrinking…
June 16th, 2009 | 10:59 am
let’s not seek solace in the false dignity of denying ourselves any claim to moral authority at all.
That’s well said.
But I have to ask– how can we escape the plain hypocrisy of continuing to build our nuclear arsenal while denying a country like Iran their right to do the same?
June 16th, 2009 | 11:31 am
At the risk of being forcibly tossed into Freddie’s van with the big flowers painted on the side, I’ll point out that the NPT officially demands the good-faith pursuit of disarmament by the nuclear nations. I’m a skeptic on the advisability of disarmament, but we should keep in mind that we are in breach of the spirit of the Treaty before ascribing too much moral capital to it.
June 16th, 2009 | 11:41 am
[...] UPDATE #3: James Poulos [...]
June 16th, 2009 | 12:47 pm
“And we would’ve put five hundred bunker-busting MIRVs on each missile, if it warn’t for you pesky kids”
June 16th, 2009 | 4:59 pm
Seems to me there’s a lot of irony when discussing the “legality” of nuclear armament. If you own them then you’ve joined the club, legal or no. And the Iranians know that. And they want to be part of the club. Once they are, they know we can’t revoke their membership. Legality is secondary.
June 17th, 2009 | 11:54 am
“I like the Iranian reformers more than I like the mass politics of solidarity by symbolism.”
The question is, though, whose reform? It’s been really interesting to see how this word is applied to Iran. Secular reform in line with the development of liberal institutions, or reform in the sense of “let’s stop saying crazy stuff and take better direction from the council?”
Here’s hoping for some big changes.
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