Sen. Biden on target with warning about Iran policy

It is perhaps a sign of the political times that Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s admission that he has seen an unidentified flying object gets wider press coverage than Sen. Joseph Biden’s warning about the Bush administration’s saber rattling with regard to Iran.

Kucinich, D-Cleveland, and Biden, D-Delaware, made their comments Tuesday night during a Democratic presidential debate, but it is the UFO story that still has people chattering.

That’s unsettling — given what’s at stake on the international stage.

The tough talk from President Bush and Vice President Cheney about the Iranian government’s refusal to abandon its nuclear ambitions has not had the desired effect.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Thursday threatened unspecified economic retaliation against European countries that follow the U.S. in imposing unilateral sanctions against his country, the Associated Press reported.

The Bush administration has warned that Iran faces increased isolation and heightened sanctions if it continues to defy the international community. It wants the Islamic Republic to negotiate an end to its nuclear program. But Ahmadinejad insists that Iran is not seeking nuclear weapons and that its uranium enrichment program aims only to produce electricity.

No sensible person would buy that explanation, but threats aren’t the way to bring the Iranians to the table.

As Sen. Biden said during the debate, the mere suggestion by the Bush administration of an invasion or an air attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities is solidifying many Iranians, even those opposed to the government, against the United States.

In addition, the idea of American troops being in another Islamic country has given Muslim extremists around the world one more reason to preach hatred of the U.S.

The war in Iraq has become a rallying cry for Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida operatives and other militants who are behind the attacks on American soldiers in Iraq.

Pakistan

Biden was right in his contention that Pakistan, which is America’s chief ally in the war on global terrorism, is of greater concern than Iran because it possesses nuclear weapons and Islamic militants are fanning the flames of political discontent.

If President Pervez Musharraf is ousted and religious radicals take over the government, the potential use of nuclear weapons against Israel or other U.S. allies in that region would no longer be a subject of academic discourse.

Biden warned that Congress’ adoption of an amendment to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization could be used by the Bush administration as justification for war.

“Ratcheting up tension with Iran plays right into President Ahmadinejad’s hands,” he said a day before the debate. “It allows him to distract the Iranian people from the terrible failure of his leadership. And it keeps oil prices high, which just lines the pockets of Iran’s government. It’s hard to think of a more self-defeating policy.”

He suggested that the United States’ approach to Iran should be tough and smart. The goal should be to prevent Iran from getting the nuclear bomb.

Aggressive international diplomacy, along with tightening economic sanctions against Iran, is preferable to the saber rattling that the administration has embraced.