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Imaginary Iran

(Commentary) Michael Rubin - Never before in recent history has the U.S. faced a country that has so persistently sought to kill or attack Americans. These include the 1979-1981 hostage situation, assassinating an Iranian dissident in suburban Washington, the 1983 Marine barracks bombing, seizing American hostages in Lebanon, the 1996 Khobar Towers attack, the facilitation of transport for the 9/11 hijackers to and from al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan, smuggling explosively-formed projectiles into Iraq and weaponry to the Taliban to kill Americans, and plotting to kill the Saudi ambassador in Washington. For none of the listed events has anyone in Iran faced any consequence. Rather, there is a consistent and bizarre effort to whitewash Iranian excesses and to depict a fictional and imaginary Iran. Until the U.S. calibrates its policy to the reality of the Islamic Republic's ideological prerogatives, terror sponsorship, animosity toward the U.S. and incitement to genocide against Israel, the more likely it is that U.S. policy objectives will fail spectacularly and Iranian leaders will continue to pursue their aims successfully. The writer is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.
2016-04-01 00:00:00
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