Out of the mouths of cartoonists...
Scott Adams (perhaps best known for being the guy who draws Dilbert) has a blog. Today's blog post is kind of interesting - he's proposing a four-step plan that would (if pulled off successfully) make Iran look like kind of a big deal to the rest of the world. Here's his idea, in his own words:
Let's say the leaders in Iran make the following pronouncements:
Personally, I think item 4 would be the sticky point - does anyone really want to rely on the United Nations to protect them, particularly when the permanent members of the UN Security Council (China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, and the United States) all have veto power over any use of force by the UN? Suppose, for instance, the US decided to bomb the living bejeezus out of Iran. Any attempt by the UN to respond would be met with a veto by the US - there's no provision for a permanent SC member to be excluded from the vote, and a single veto does the trick.
Otherwise, an interesting idea to be sure.
Let's say the leaders in Iran make the following pronouncements:
- The age of war among modern nations is over. Economic sanctions are a reminder that the world is connected, and no nation can or should be a deliberate thorn in the side of others.
- To mark this new age, Iran has decided to become history's first and greatest model of how economic forces can and should be a substitute for war. This is also an example of how Islam can lead the world toward peace, they might say.
- Iran agrees to full nuclear inspections and a discontinuation of support for Hezbollah. In return, it asks for a two-state solution for the Palestinians and Israel that permanently grants Israel everything it already controls (just being realistic here), and gives the Palestinians huge International financial aid for economic development - far more than ever before - plus a big pile of money for the people who were displaced in Israel's formative years - the so-called right-of-return folks. In other words, Iran embraces the use of economics instead of violence to solve the Palestinian situation too. But Iran doesn't ask Israel to foot the bill. The entire world has an interest in settling things in that region. Remember, we're all connected.
- Iran asks for a security guarantee from the United Nations to help protect it against future acts of military aggression from any other nation.
Personally, I think item 4 would be the sticky point - does anyone really want to rely on the United Nations to protect them, particularly when the permanent members of the UN Security Council (China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, and the United States) all have veto power over any use of force by the UN? Suppose, for instance, the US decided to bomb the living bejeezus out of Iran. Any attempt by the UN to respond would be met with a veto by the US - there's no provision for a permanent SC member to be excluded from the vote, and a single veto does the trick.
Otherwise, an interesting idea to be sure.