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Who Lost Iran?

 

Charles Krauthammer has been taking the Bush administration to task over Iran. His recent National Review piece began, "It is time to admit the truth: The Bush administration's attempt to halt Iran's nuclear program has failed. Utterly."

Simply put, he's angry Bush hasn't overturned the Iranian regime with strong enough sanctions, nor hit Iran with air strikes. Because we've failed so disastrously on these counts, Krauthammer says, the only thing to do is adopt a "Holocaust Declaration" promising massive retaliation against Iran in response to any nuclear attack on Israel.

I admire his determination to secure the United States and Israel, but I can't help but think his position utterly absurd. Why? Because Krauthammer has backed the Bush administration's position from the start--the very same 'utterly failed' approach that has resulted in Iran continuing to enrich uranium, unimpeded.

Like Bush, Krauthammer has opposed any sort of quid-pro-quo with the Iranians, deriding "carrots" and slamming American and European attempts to end Iran's enrichment program via coercive diplomacy--that is, promising sanctions and air strikes if they continue to enrich on one hand, and substantial incentives for nuclear dismantlement, on the other--as na