A Really Bold Proposal for Iran

Karl R. Maier's "Bold Proposal for Iran" at Strategypage suggests destroying Iran's oil fields to defund the terrorists. He says destroying the fields will convince the world we're not at war for oil. That doesn't make much sense when the US could be really bold and just brave the world's concerns that the United States is in Iraq for the Oil. Let's let the world think we're at war for oil rather than to liberate Arab Shiites, and just take the oil provinces intact from Iran and Saudi Arabia. We'd liberate the Arab Shiites nonetheless in Khuzestan and Hasa nonetheless, and give Najaf great prestige at the expense of Qom when Iraqi troops join us in the liberation.

With our dominance in the air, we can give the mullahs and the wahabbis a choice of what condition they'd like their ministries and ministers in Teheran and Riyadh to be in after we liberate those provinces -- no damage to the oil fields and no deaths in the provinces mean no damage to the ministries and no deaths in the capitals. The terror masters will be quite circumspect when they understand that their homes will be in the same condition as the oil fields when we move in, for better or for worse.

Then we'll have lower oil prices thanks to better reservoir management, and that will give the world some real shock and awe. No need to blow up fields or capitals, and we defund the terrorists all the same. It just takes a little more boldness...