Déjà Vu Again?

by Harry Browne
by Harry Browne

This morning I watched a few minutes of Fox & Friends – the Fox TV News network’s version of Today and Good Morning America. Two of the three hosts were interviewing one of their foreign policy experts. Among the three of them, they made the following points about Iran:

• Iran is developing nuclear weapons (you know, weapons of mass destruction).

• The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors are doing a terrible job of monitoring nuclear installations in Iraq.

• The IAEA work should be replaced by a UN Security Council resolution ordering Iran to give up its nuclear work, since such a resolution can be backed up by force.

• The European countries aren’t backing the U.S. against Iran, because the French and Germans are greedy and want to get rich doing business with Iran.

• The U.S. should bring about regime change in Iran.

This all sounded eerily familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on where I’d heard this before.

Don’t tell me. I’m sure it will come to me.

Aha! I remember now. This is exactly what was being said about Iraq two years ago.

Not once in the Fox discussion was Iraq mentioned – no references such as "We were wrong before about Iraq, but I’m sure we’re right now about Iran" or "We were wrong before because it’s easy to get those two countries mixed up, since there’s only one letter difference between them."

It is amazing how people can seriously suggest repeating the Iraqi debacle.

Incidentally, for an excellent report of what Iran is really like, read "A Few Thoughts Before We ‘Liberate’ Iran" by Steven LaTulippe.

December 15, 2004

Harry Browne [send him mail], the author of Why Government Doesn't Work and many other books, was the Libertarian presidential candidate in 1996 and 2000. See his website.

Copyright © 2004 Harry Browne

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