Turning East Toward Persia

John Wayne would've done it...Steve McQueen would have done it...Clint Eastwood would have said, "Make my day" and then done it...

This may not be the movies. But the tragedy unfolding for a beleagured President Bush is nothing short of a debacle requiring a leading actor to take charge. Our heroes above would have created an out that would save honor and credibility.

The question is: Does the President have the courage to play the cards that would resurrect his presidency from the doghouse of LBJ to the status of war hero Eisenhower? .

First, the President must turn his eyes eastward. He should catalog the crimes publicly against humanity, America, Lebanon, Israel, and Iraq that Tehran's leader, Ahmadinejad, is responsible for. The catalog is to be made public in the following format.

What do you do with a world leader that:

• threatens dozens of times to "wipe Israel off the map"


• funnels IEDs, money, soldiers, & weapons into Iraq killing American soldiers and fostering much of the instability of Baghdad


• trains, funds, and sends out Hezbollah and Hamas militias to asymetrically attack innocent citizens across an entire region of the globe


• sent specifically planned milita to overthrow Lebanon's government in the summer of 2006


• is building nuclear weapons arsenal to dominate Arab Sunnis and the Middle East

You do what "the Duke" would have done. You take out the bad guy for his bad talk, bad actions, bad threat to an entire world. The reprecussions are minimal. The world hates you already. The Russians have already bailed on the relationship. The Chinese were never with you before. The weak-kneed Europeans are just- well- weak.

Ahmadinejad's Iran would have felt the full blow of American force. F-16s, para-military troopers, blitzkrieg attacks, and precision bombings for sure would have dropped on critical Iranian infrastructure and destroyed the nuclear capabilities of this wayward nation. The surgical strikes would have done their job to push back any nuclear program.


The hot-mouthed impetuous leader, Ahmadinejad, would be hunted down like a dog. For promoting Israel's destruction, Lebanon's destruction, Iraq's destablization, and for causing the direct murder of American soldiers in Iraq via IED's, ammunition, and soldiers directed by Iranian officials, the puppet international court would have its chance at him.

A weakened chaotic Iran will have little time nor resource to badger Iraq's fledgling democratic experiment any further. Malaki will have been bought a couple of years of precious time to fight for his Iraq without the Persians breathing down his neck. American soldiers will have exited the scene in Iraq (what we've all been waiting for except for an emergency contingency). Iran's WMD program will have been demolished. Bush's ratings will have soared as the patriotic war president takes down the venomous snake of Iran. The Europeans will take over the rebuilding in Iran after we finish demolition derby in and around Tehran. And Americans will not be left to pick up the pieces, thereby to be blamed.

Strategically, neither Sunni nor Shia will have any upper hand in Iraq or Iran because of the destruction in both countries; which is good for all of us. We will begin to fund both Iran and Iraq at equal strength for decades to come, reminiscent of Reagan's arming of Saddam in the eighties to counter Tehran.

And as artist, Rodney Atkins, sings in his newest song:

If you're goin' through hell keep on going... Don't slow down if you're scared... don't show it... You might get out before the devil even knows you're there