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EDITORIAL: Diplomatic solutions may be hard to come by(Comtex Business Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)GAINESVILLE, Fla., Apr 12, 2006 (Independent Florida Alligator, U-WIRE via COMTEX) --Sometimes, you just have to have faith in President Bush. Amid news that Iran has successfully enriched uranium for the first time, Bush administration officials are reiterating that they remain committed to a diplomatic solution to the crisis of a nuclear Iran. We hope they can do it. Because with all the rhetoric coming out of Iran these days, we're starting to wonder whether a backyard bomb shelter is such a bad idea after all. Hard-line Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, no stranger to controversy, has frequently and vocally challenged both the Western world and our allies in Israel, going so far as to call for the Jewish state to be "wiped off the map." Imagine our chagrin when we discovered Iran's sudden progress in uranium enrichment, along with Ahmadinejad's claim that "Iran will soon join the club of countries that have nuclear technology." Iran's enrichment comes over the stern objections of the U.N. Security Council, which, on March 29, demanded that Iran suspend its uranium program. Ahmadinejad blew it off, saying, "The enemies must know that they cannot hinder the nation's progress ..." Of course, it's entirely possible that Iran just wants nuclear energy like the rest of the developed world, which they should be able to get. But therein lies the rub. The same uranium enrichment techniques used to make fuel for nuclear reactors can also be used to make material for nuclear weapons. It's a dangerous game. And given Iran's recent actions, we're not exactly optimistic at the prospects that diplomacy will win the day. Yet the Bush administration remains upbeat, saying that diplomatic solutions are still available and that alleged plans of an imminent attack against Iran are "just wild speculation." "I know here in Washington, prevention means force," Bush said. "It doesn't mean force necessarily. In this case, it means diplomacy." And maybe that counts for something. But with the stakes so high, it's difficult to know just how many concessions the U.S. is willing to make to diplomatically prevent Iran from getting the bomb. How far can we reasonably expect to go before a military attack is the only option left on the table? News of Iran's enrichment success couldn't come at a worse time for Bush, whose approval ratings recently hit a new low of 38 percent, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. The president's political capital is simply overtaxed. But the same could also be said of the U.S. military. Following the costly, dismal invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, it's easy to wonder how much juice our military has left to prevent nuclear proliferation in Iran. It's the military scenario that everyone feared. Iraq, a relatively small potato once ruled by a tyrannical yet stable dictator, has sapped both the resources and the morale of the most powerful military in the world. We now find ourselves bogged down in a conflict without clear goals or exit strategies. But who knows? Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, heads to Iran later this week. Maybe we'll get lucky. Maybe ElBaradei will find that we have nothing to worry about. Or maybe Iran's leaders will spontaneously decide that uranium enrichment just isn't for them. But we're not holding our breath. |