Cal Thomas Predicts Iran Will Not Free the Brits

For many months, some in this country have been urging a tougher line toward Iran, ranging from threatening to drop nuclear bombs to imposing sanctions that could result in hundreds of thousands of deaths. Others have been urging negotiations as the only way to avoid an escalation, and as the only way to monitor Iran's nuclear program. Both sides of this debate won small victories on Wednesday. Those in favor of talking saw negotiations lead to the freeing of British soldiers and sailors. Those in favor of hostile action saw Cal Thomas get another incoherent rant printed in the Daily Progress.

Thomas predicts in his column that Iran will not free the Brits unless we use "coercion and military might" and show that we are prepared for our people "to die en masse." This insanity is then combined with ignorance to produce Thomas' bizarre conclusion that we should work toward "energy independence" in order to "sink" the Iranian regime. Iran is in the crosshairs of the Bush-Cheney administration because it has oil. If the United States were to free itself of the need for oil (an admirable goal), then pundits like Thomas would no longer be called on to demonize Iranians at all, we would not read anything about Iran in the newspaper, our government would not be attempting the crime of "regime change" in Iran, and the Iranian people would stand a much greater chance of living in peace.