An early November report by the International Atomic Energy Agency offers evidence to suggest that Iran will eventually be capable of creating a nuclear weapon. But the country remains at a preliminary development stage, according to the report. If the United States is to act wisely, it must remember its previous failings in intelligence to invade Iraq before starting a war in Iran. 

Condoleezza Rice, secretary of state under President George W. Bush, offered her perspective on Iran during an interview on ‘This Week’ with Christiane Amanpour. She said the country was ‘the poster child for state sponsorship of terrorism’ and that America should remain in Iraq to confront Iran. Rice is convinced Iran is trying to manufacture nuclear weapons. She said America should ‘be doing everything we can to bring down’Iranís government.

Rice said these things despite her incredibly tarnished career in foreign policy. Rice argued that the United States was right to go into Iraq based on her belief that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. The result was more than $3 trillion spent, more than 100,000 Iraqi civilians dead, and more than 4,000 U.S. troops dead. 

Now, she believes America should bring down Iran’s regime under her belief that it is building a nuclear weapon. That she even is asked about foreign policy is astounding. Her advice should be disregarded.

Ron Paul, who has been cast aside by the mainstream of the Republican Party for his strict libertarian domestic policy, offers a contrasting viewpoint from Rice’s. Paul did not support the war in Iraq on the grounds that it was an illegal war.

In the CBS News and National Journal debate on Saturday, Paul said, ‘I’m afraid what’s going on right now is similar to the war propaganda that went on against Iraq. You know, they didn’t have weapons of mass destruction, and it was orchestrated and it was to me a tragedy of what’s happened these past ten years.’

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, dismissed the report as a fabrication and said it contributed to ‘Iran-phobia.’ He said, ‘If the thought of invasion against the Islamic Republic of Iran crosses anybody’s mind, he must be ready to receive a strong slap and iron fist.’ 

Republican presidential candidates, with the exception of Ron Paul and John Huntsman, have expressed their willingness to use covert operations in Iran to bring down the regime. To these candidates, there is no doubt that Iran will have a nuclear weapon. Sanctions alone are not enough to stop Iran. These candidates’ plans seem to forget the United States’ catastrophic attempt to manipulate regimes in the ‘50s in Iran and Guatemala.

The United States cannot continue to recklessly spend its money in foreign wars. In its most recent adventure, America spent $1.1 billion in Libya as reported by the Pentagon. The figure may be as high as $2 billion, said Vice President Joseph Biden.

Already, the murmurs of going to war and escalation have begun. If the United States forgets its recent history, it will repeat tragic mistakes. War and covert operations are not legitimate because little evidence justifies their necessity or legality. According to IAEA reports, Iran has tried to get a nuclear weapon for many years, but Iran has yet to have one. Seemingly credible evidence, alone, that Iran is conducting research to make a nuclear weapon does not warrant the use of force by the United States.

Harmen Rockler is a junior newspaper and political science major. His column appears weekly. He can be reached at horockle@syr.edu.