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■"Iranians Refuse to Terminate Nuclear Plans: Step Threatens Accord With Europeans," by Elaine Sciolino, New York Times, 26 November 2004, p. A1.
■"Iraqi Leaders Plan to Meet Insurgents in Jordan: Call for Rebels to Join Political ProcessóZarqawi Aide Held," by Edward Wong, New York Times, 26 November 2004, p. A1.
Anyone who believes this European-led negotiations with Iran is going to accomplish anything is simply dreaming. Iran will continue to use these negotiations to forestall any military actions by the West to the point where theyíll finally have nuclear-tipped missiles capable of making any invasion of their territory highly improbable.
Unlike a North Korea, there isnít any single dictator to knock off at the top, because the regime rules with far more legitimacy than does Kim (as evidenced by the far smaller police-state presence in everyday life in Iran). Moreover, unlike northeast Asia where there are big rich countries all over the dial who would be very interested in making sure any takedown goes well, in the Gulf area, weíd really be on our own.
Plus, North Korea serves no strategic purpose in Asiaóitís basically good for nothing. Whereas Iran could serve some serious strategic purpose in the Gulf, by helping us deal with the aftermath that is Iraq.
In both regions, itís all about local ownership of security issues: where you have it already, I say use it, and where you donít, I say, you better create some.
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