Senate resolution on Iran may be bipartisan, but it could lead to war

The short answer is that the document adds nothing on this point and, more importantly, could be taken to authorize the use of force if Iran gets a nuclear weapon. The resolution blocks a containment strategy and endorses US military action regardless of any other circumstances.

To be clear, an Iran with nuclear weapons is a regional and global danger. But so is nuclear Pakistan, a state from which more terrorist attacks have been launched over the past decade than Iran.

When the Soviet Union and China became nuclear-weapons states, the US had to develop containment strategies and live with it. Fortunately, the calls for preventive nuclear war at the time were rejected and deterrence and containment worked. A containment strategy may be needed for Iran if it is willing to bear the economic pain of sanctions to get nuclear weapons.

Tehran’s irresponsible statements about nuclear weapons are no less mad than those of Beijing in the 1960s. And the ayatollahs are no more interested in seeing their nation vaporized in a nuclear retaliatory strike than was Chairman Mao.

Containment is the second-worst option. A preventive strike that could lead to a serious war in the Middle East is the worst.

So where is the silver lining in the resolution? There is a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Iran today. Unfortunately, the resolution, SR380, is not scheduled to be discussed. It should be.

Such a discussion could provide the basis for such hearings to explore and assess important issues and US policy options: Is there an Iranian nuclear program with an inspection regime acceptable to the world community? If Iran withdrew from the NPT, as North Korea has done, what would be the legal basis for any attack? Is containment a viable option and what are the elements that would constitute an effective containment strategy?

These hearings should probe the objective of a military attack and its prospects for success. They could examine how an Iranian response would be managed. The hearings could also demonstrate America’s concern for human rights and democracy in Iran.

If this resolution triggers substantive Senate hearings to analyze the issues surrounding Iran’s nuclear program, it will have redeemed itself.
 
Richard L. Klass is a retired Air Force colonel. He flew over 200 combat sorties as a forward air controller in Vietnam. He served at the Air Force Academy, as a White House fellow, with the US Air Forces in Europe, and in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. His decorations include the Silver Star and Purple Heart.

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