How Do We Deal with Iran?

WASHINGTON, September 28, 2009--Iran announced on Sunday that it has test fired several short-range missiles, just days after proclaiming that it has been building a second uranium enrichment plant. In response to this show of force, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates implied that the United States has no military solution to the problem, and added “I think there’s still time for diplomacy.” 

In his new book, “Winning the Unwinnable War: America’s Self-Crippled Response to Islamic Totalitarianism,” Ayn Rand Center fellow Elan Journo traces Iran’s role as the ideological leader of the Islamic totalitarian movement, catalogs its history of violence against America, and argues that today’s commitment to “diplomacy” with Iran can only fuel its belligerence. Instead, he argues for an unconventional solution: “The only practical way forward requires that we recognize Iran’s role as the ideological motor of the Islamist movement--and then proceed to crush it.

“This is a twofold job. Fundamentally, that begins with declaring--publicly and proudly--our moral condemnation of Iran and of the Islamist movement that it leads. In doing so, we project a righteous dedication to our values of individual rights and political freedom and affirm that we will tolerate no threat to the lives and freedom of Americans. The second element, which presupposes the first, is to live up to that dedication in practice by unleashing all necessary military force to put an end to the Iranian regime and demoralize the Islamist movement.

“It must be made to realize that, if Iran ever dares to threaten or take up arms against us, we will again meet that aggression with a crushing military onslaught.”

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Elan Journo is available for interviews. To interview Mr. Journo or book him for your show, please e-mail media@aynrandcenter.org

For more articles by Elan Journo, and his bio, click here.