There is a lot we don't know about Iran.
BY BRET STEPHENS
"Neo-Cons to plot Iran strategy amid Caribbean luxury." Thus did an Internet sleuth describe a conference convened late last month in the Bahamas by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies--a think tank so sinisterly right-wing that its board of advisers includes Donna Brazile and Chuck Schumer.
Had our sleuth been at the conference, he might have been disappointed to find that nothing by way of bombing coordinates for the pending attack on Iran's nuclear installations were presented. On the contrary, the 30 or so conferees--Iranian-born intellectuals, Middle East scholars, journalists and former officials from Democratic and Republican administrations and foreign governments--could agree on little other than that Iran is a uniquely aggressive regime intent on becoming the predominant power in the Middle East. As to how best to confront it, the conference raised more questions than it answered. Here's a partial list:
- Do Iranians view the nuclear program as a national project or as an instrument for the regime to consolidate its unpopular rule?
- Can economic sanctions have any effect on the regime's nuclear plans?
- Do we undercut Iran's pro-democracy activists by giving them verbal encouragement?
- Do we undercut the pro-democracy movement when we negotiate with the regime?
- Can we negotiate with Iran over Iraq?
- Are there meaningful differences within the regime that Western diplomacy can exploit?
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Pertinent Links:
1) Persian Puzzles
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