In his regular Washington Post column George Will says that there are just two options for dealing with Iran:
The agreement will not stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons; only a highly unlikely Iranian choice can do that. The agreement may, however, prevent a war to prevent Iran from acquiring such weapons. If Pollack is right, and he certainly is persuasive, we have two choices, war or containment. Those who prefer the former have an obligation to clearly say why its consequences would be more predictable and less dire than those in the disastrous war with Iraq.
There is a third alternative: do nothing. Even if Iran is not a threat to us its regime is still reprehensible and not to be trusted. If there is no threat, doing nothing, i.e. maintaining the sanctions regime already in place, is by far the best alternative.
If Iran is a threat to us the agreement will do nothing to change that and we’ll know in due course. We are completely capable of dealing with a nuclear-armed Iranian regime that threatens us. As I’ve said before, the degree of nuclear threat of which Iran is capable presents a target rather than a deterrent. We don’t want to have to deal with a nuclear-armed Iranian regime that threatens us but at this point that’s beyond our control.
