IN FAIRNESS TO SADDAM:

Anti-Iran sentiment hardening fast: Critics in Congress finger Iranian ties to Al Qaeda and influence in Iraq as cause for a tougher approach. (Howard LaFranchi, 7/22/04, CS Monitor)

Iran's governing mullahs may feel uneasy at the prominent attention they are attracting in the US as the 9/11 investigations conclude.

But a bigger worry for them may well be the growing signs that the US Congress - even without the 9/11 reports of Iran's ties to Al Qaeda - is pressing for a tougher approach toward Tehran.

With US interests in a reformed Middle East as strong as ever - even with Saddam Hussein out of the picture - Iran is emerging as the new Satan for some forces in Washington. That is particularly true on Capitol Hill, where pro-Israel and anti-Iran hard-liners are calling for an Iran policy advocating regime change - much like what happened with Iraq in the late 1990s.

Considering that we toppled Saddam who had no ties to terrorism, and everyone on the Left says they'd have supported the war if there were such ties, it seems only fair to do Iran.

Posted by Orrin Judd at July 21, 2004 11:10 PM