Attack on Iran would be a mistake

Re “One strike, Iran could be out,” Opinion, Oct. 22

That Israel bombed something and that Syria did not react (yet) does not imply that striking the premier industrial effort of a much larger, more capable state will lead to no reaction. It is foolish to imagine we can identify all threats and eliminate them. It is arrogant in the extreme to feel that we can attack possible threats without that certainty. We have no responsibility to prevent other states from making mistakes, but we have full responsibility for our own.

Tom Wright

Oak Park, Ill.

Just as in the run-up to our debacle in Iraq, pundits assured us there was no other viable option than to invade. Niall Ferguson continues in this vein, offering vague arguments in favor of a strike that would not only destabilize the Mideast but stretch our already tired military to its limit. And it would put our country in even worse standing in the eyes of the world. While I’m no fan of the regime in Tehran, when you consider the CIA-backed overthrow of a democratically elected government in the 1950s and then a series of hypocritical policy moves, including the support of Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, it is no surprise that Iran is hostile to the U.S. As a historian, Ferguson would be better off informing the public about the history of U.S. intervention in Iran and the effect this has had on relations between the two countries. Instead, he presents a doomsday scenario with military action as the only solution.

Ken Ehrlich

Los Angeles

In stating that a diplomatic solution to U.S.-Iran tensions is “dwindling fast,” Ferguson neglects to mention that the Bush administration has rejected direct, high-level talks with Tehran. Diplomacy can only work if all parties are willing to talk. Ferguson also doesn’t consider that a military strike would not ensure the destruction of all possibly existing materials and knowledge used to produce a nuclear weapon. He never mentions that an attack on Iran would likely shore up support for extremists across the Middle East, thus leading to an increased risk of terror attacks.

Trevor Keck

Washington