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Friday, October 19, 2007

The Mother of Modern Terrorism

Courtesy of CBNNews.com

WASHINGTON - Iran still nags the U.S. almost 30 years following the hostage crisis that helped bring down a presidency.

The faces have changed but the White House still faces off with Tehran.

This time it's over charges of supplying weapons used to kill Americans in Iraq, pursuing nuclear weapons calling for the end of Israel.

The Mother of Modern Terrorism

Iran declared war on the U.S. in 1979. They've been killing Americans non-stop ever since then, and no American president has ever responded.

Conservative Michael Ledeen, author of The Iranian Time Bomb, calls Iran the "mother of modern terrorism." He says three decades of failed American diplomacy have continued under President Bush.

"As far as I can tell he doesn't have an Iran policy," Leeden said. "Even after several years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, where it was quite clear we were drowning in information that the Iranians were supporting both sides of the terror war against us, where Iranian weapons, Iranian intel agents, even Iranian troops were on the ground killing Americans.

Even then for the longest time our soldiers were told take it easy on the Iranians. It's only in the last several months that we've been able finally to shoot Iranians, capture Iranians and so forth and look at the reaction. The Iranian regime is furious, screaming."

Ledeen, whose son is a Marine now serving in Iraq, says the U.S. would be justified to take out terror-training camps inside Iran.

"We know Iraqis are brought into Iran for training in bases in Iran, and then they're sent back into Iraq, armed, trained, funded by the Iranians," he said. "And they come into Iraq to kill our guys."

U.S. Options Regarding Iran

Contrary to his image as eager for war with Iran, Ledeen is opposed to a U.S. bombing or invasion of Iran.

"Iran is a big country - 70 million people. Great killers. Very fanatical. Hate us passionately. You want to take them on, you have to be really serious. It takes a lot of effort. Lot of risk. Lot of money will probably cost some lives, if not our theirs. And it's unpleasant and there's every chance that you'll fail," Leeden said.

What are U.S. options? A White House push for tougher U.N. sanctions has been blocked by Russia and China. Critics of continued diplomacy question how America can bargain with Iran's mullahs who believe America's destruction is sanctioned by god.

"We've offered every carrot and brandished every stick by now," Leeden said. "You know, Einstein's definition of a madman is somebody who keeps doing the same thing, hoping to get a different result some day."

Iranian Revolution?

Ledeen believes a more lethal weapon exists: revolution.

"If you did a little check list on conditions for revolution: economic misery, political opposition to the regime, suffering by the people, long traditions of self-government and awareness of modern democracy and how it works and so forth. Iran fulfils every condition," he said.

"So Iran, if you're looking for a country where the people hate the regime, we know from the regime itself, from it's own public opinion polls, that 70 plus percent of the Iranian people hate the regime," Ledeen said.

But he believes that would require unprecedented action from the United States.

"They're terribly embittered right now because this administration has given all kinds of speeches about how they stand behind the Iranians - 'We hope Iran will become free, and so forth' - but we've never done anything. They are waiting to see us do something to support them.

America's concerns for its soldiers in Iraq, Israeli security on the line and a potential nuclear threat, the Iranian time bomb is ticking.

It's a bomb that could set off a diplomatic breakthrough , or a countdown to war.

INSIDE IRAN:

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