Michael Ledeen's advice to the U.S. government as regards our policy towards Iran over the last few years has been, "Faster, Please". Ledeen has long advocated a stronger U.S. position in support of the Iranian people, and against the repressive regime of the mullahs. He's not warmongering. He proposes a number of concrete steps we can take short of military force. However, nothing short of regime change is the necessary result, according to Ledeen. Iran has long been the chief sponsor of terrorism, and now their funding and support of Al Qaeda threatens our goals in Iraq and elsewhere. Ledeen's message has become "Now, please. Time's up". An excerpt:
...if the United States chooses to give real support to the regime's opponents, there could well be a replay of the mass demonstrations that led to the fall of Milosevic in Yugoslavia and the Marcoses in the Philippines. If the Bush administration instead falls back on merely repeating the president's many words of condemnation of the regime and praise for the opposition, the mullahs may survive to kill us yet another day.Posted by dan at May 27, 2003 05:49 PMIt is impossible to win in Iraq or to block the spread of weapons of mass destruction throughout the terror network without bringing down the mullahs. Iran is not only a participant on the other side; it is the heart of the jihadist structure. If we are really serious about winning the war against terrorism, we must defeat Iran. Thus far, we haven't been serious enough.