The war against the free world

Melanie Phillips, author of Londonstan, examines the influence of Iran on Iraq.

In order to win in Iraq, it is essential to defeat Iran. This is for the blindingly obvious reason that the principal instigator of the war in Iraq is… Iran. I have never understood how anyone could think that you can win a war by refusing to fight the aggressors and instead running around trying vainly to put out the fires they are starting. As I said last month here and on many other occasions, the coalition cannot secure Iraq without first defeating Iran.

I don’t agree with her view that “the American generals have been resistant to such a strategic analysis. They have refused both to extend the war in Iraq to Iran”. That is the president’s call not the generals’ — their job is to devise strategy to implement the mission delegated by the president.

I agree that sandboxing Iran is essential, but not all sure that “extending the war to Iran” is the optimal strategy. It seems to me that we have a number of powerful points of leverage on Iran that have not been exploited. E.g., Iran’s dependence on imported gasoline.

Londonstan is in my reading queue. Here’s Steven Emerson’s blurb:

“Londonistan is one of the most compelling books you will ever read on the ascendancy of Islamic fundamentalism, violence and intimidation in the West. Melanie Phillips exposes the scandalous appeasement of militant Islam by British officials, the media, even the Church of England, capturing in extraordinary detail how British society and institutions have either ignored or actively fostered the growth of extremist groups on British soil. This book will both enlighten and enrage. Although its story is focused on the United Kingdom, it could be applied to any European capital or to the United States.”

—Steven Emerson, executive director of the Investigative Project on Terrorism and author of American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us