What is at stake for the United States?
The United States has a long term interest in promoting a freer, genuinely democratic Iran that would not threaten its neighbors, U.S. allies, or Americans. The current government, in addition to repressing its own people, is the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism. It supports insurgents that are killing U.S. troops and civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other terrorist groups. The hard-liners that lead Iran are unlikely to moderate their hostile policies or make compromises regarding their radical Islamist agenda, as the current crisis demonstrates. The ultimate U.S. goal should be the toppling of Iran’s brutal dictatorship, not vainly seeking to reach an inherently unsustainable accommodation with it.
