17 May 2007

Try all else

John Bolton 'who still has close links to the Bush administration':

And if all else fails, if the choice is between a nuclear-capable Iran and the use of force, then I think we need to look at the use of force. Source
My suggestion: try 'all else'. Decide and define what we want to achieve - a bomb-free Iran? a reasonable regime in Tehran? - and contract out that achievement to the market. Issue 'Iran Peace Bonds' that would become valuable in the event of nuclear peace in the Middle East. Give people incentives to achieve such a peace. This may sound radical, but the war alternative on offer would inflict much misery without any guarantee of success. Imporantly too, most in the west appear to be opposed to it. Iran Peace Bonds, depending on who backed them and how much finance they put up, would merely countervail the existing incentives for arms manufacturers and certain government bureaucracies to make war.

No comments: