By Andrew L. Jaffee

Today, Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns accused Iran of supplying weapons to the Taliban. I wish it weren’t so, but I just can’t get enthusiastic about the Bush Administration’s latest claims. It is not that I doubt Iran is stoking the flames in Afghanistan. It is whether I — or anyone else, especially among our allies — have any reason to believe that Bush’s people can provide evidence. The U.S. has been flexing its military muscle in the Persian Gulf, and now in the field of diplomacy — but will it have the desired effect of quieting down Iran’s Islamists? I’ve heard a few too many officials crying wolf; I’ve seen a lot of bad spin control and awful public relations. The President has squandered his post-9/11 political capital.

Iraq’s WMDs, Rumsfeld’s “slimmed-down fighting force,” Katrina, Plame-Gate, Scooter Libby, Gonzalez and the firings of US attorneys, Harriet Miers, the veterans’ hospital scandal, etc., etc. I’ve defended Bush enough in these pages, only to watch him step on another land-mine, eyes wide shut.

The U.S. track-record on dealing with Iran isn’t stellar either, as Nathan Thrall points out in his article, “How the Reagan Administration Taught Iran the Wrong Lessons.” In late May, DEBKAfile claimed:

President George W. Bush has determined that if Iran refuses to waive a nuclear weapon capability, the US will attack its nuclear, military and economic infrastructure before he leaves the White House in Jan. 2009.

The President ordered “the world’s biggest amphibious strike force” into the Persian Gulf for unannounced exercises:

The U.S. Navy staged its latest show of military force off the Iranian coastline on Wednesday, sending two aircraft carriers and landing ships packed with 17,000 U.S. Marines and sailors…

So we seem to be getting tough on Iran, but will anything really be done about the Islamist regime’s nukes and trouble-making? If anything is done, will it be executed properly, or just become another big disaster, one which affects the security of the whole world? I really can’t answer. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me…

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Related: Iran, Afghanistan, National Security / Intelligence

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