NPR: Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran...Version 2.0

Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran...Version 2.0

Norman Podhoretz, considered by many to be a key thinker in the neoconservative movement, is praying that the U.S. will bomb Iran. He makes an appeal in the current issue of the magazine Commentary in a cover story entitled "The Case for Bombing Iran." As Think Progress writes:

Podhoretz's article appeals to President Bush, "a man who knows evil when he sees it" and who has been "battered more mercilessly and with less justification than any other in living memory," to carry out military strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. U.S. diplomats are now pointing to the essay to pressure foreign diplomats to increase pressure on Iran.

In an interview, Podhoretz does admit that such an attack could unleash a tidal wave of anti-Americanism across the globe that would make present day sentiments look like a "lovefest." But he says it would be worth it to slow down Iran's nuclear program for five to 10 years.

But some folks disagree with this thesis. American Progress senior fellow Joseph Cirincione has argued that it would not slow down the Iranians' progress but speed it up, just as the Israeli attack on Iraq's nuclear reactor sped up that program in the '80s.

4:08 PM ET | 06-21-2007 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

From the same folks who brought you the "cakewalk" of Iraq and the so-called Project For A New American Century: Oh yes, Neocons, you guys are just so much smarter than everyone else. Much more brilliant. Diplomacy? Tres passe! Why can't the rest of us see the light and heartily support your atavistic warmongering? Why can't the Iranians understand that they were much better off under a monarch like the Shah and show some gratitude for Uncle Sam organizing a coup which overthrew their legitimately elected goverment back in 1953? Democracy without corporate sponsorship hasn't been fashionable for decades. With American troops on not one but two of their borders, commanded by a president that has made it clear he wants the US to change their goverment, yet again, why can't those barbaric Iranians understand it's all for their own good?

Sent by John R. Otten | 4:30 PM ET | 06-21-2007

The neoconservative movement will bury this country. Every time we attack another country, we only serve to stir hatred towards the United States. In Iraq, for example, there are many thousands of civilians who have been killed in shootouts between American troops and insurgents. How do the families of the dead civilians feel? Would they be more apt to support the American troops who should not be there in the first place, or the insurgents who are fighting the Americans and who share the same language and customs. I believe that the situation will not get better in Iraq, and that our continued presents in that country will only serve to stir up more hatred towards the United States and will provide a training ground for terrorist. We need to not only leave Iraq, but not attack any more countries. My only regret in writing this is that I feel that I am only talking to people who already share my point of view.

Sent by Nate | 6:34 PM ET | 06-21-2007

I guess I don't understand how Norman Podhoretz, or any other leading neoconservative, has any credibility. How wrong did they have to be on Iraq for the media and the administration to stop paying attention to them. Are we willing to go to war with Iran and likely the rest of the muslim world? If we're not then we shouldn't be attacking them, because they will attack us in return.

Sent by Mike | 9:32 PM ET | 06-21-2007

Unbelievable! Don't these guys know when to quit. History, as well as American public opinion has already judged the folly of neoconservative thinking (or lack of thinking-just bomb your problems!). Mr. Podhoretz argues that the President has been judged too harshly and this statement shows that unlike true conservatives the neoconservatives deeply mistrust the American people and all peoples. Like the intellectuals they criticize, they view the public as ignorant and misguided. This article of Mr. Podhoretz's betrays the neoconservatives roots in the liberal intellegentsia. It is time for this movement to be part of the trashbin of history

Sent by Paul pogany | 10:36 PM ET | 06-21-2007

Why do the neo-cons always see the world from the perspective of war? The first words out of their mouths are always words of aggression. They seem willing to use any rhetorical device, exaggeration, hyperbole, and even fabrication to prove their point. We currently face an enormous problem in Iraq due to their eagerness to overlook the facts in their rush to use their favorite toy, the Pentagon, in the Middle East. Worse yet, they have a willing student in the President, who also has control of the diplomatic function of our government (which, by the way, ultimately prevented the Cold War from becoming WW III). So now, unabashedly, Mr. Podhoretz proposes to start WW IV? He calls his supposed foes in the Middle East "Islamofascists," yet it is he who raises the call to war. Doesn't anyone else view this war mongering as worthy of nothing but scorn?

Sent by Erik | 7:34 AM ET | 06-22-2007

This is the same delusional retoric I heard during Vietnam. I think Mr. Podhoretz, along with those who agree and support him including all their family members of military age, should be handed a pack, a rifle, body armor, a couple hundred rounds of ammo and be given the opportunity for their very own up front and personal experience of war.
It's a very enlightning experience, in it's own curious way.

Sent by Jim | 7:39 AM ET | 06-22-2007

bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb norman podhoretz.

Sent by joe k. | 12:21 PM ET | 06-24-2007

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