Letters to the Editor for the weekly print issue of May 7, 2012: John Bolton is wrong. Obama is protecting the US and world economy from a disastrous attack on Iran. It's Israel that has the nukes. And the best way to foment regime change in Iran is to support the opposition there.
In the April 16 issue, John Bolton ("Israel is not the threat, Mr. President. Iran is.") decries the ways in which President Obama has sought to deter Israel from a disastrous attack on Iran. The United States does not need another war and would be hurt by a doubling or worse of oil prices.
When President Bush was leading the nation into two disastrous wars, neoconservative hawks like Mr. Bolton told us that the president must be allowed to decide questions of war and peace. That is just what Mr. Obama is doing.
Obama should be applauded – not derided – for his wisdom and statesmanship. If such judgment and restraint had been used before, the US may well have been spared costly wars in Vietnam and Iraq.
Iran is not just the "mullahs." It has a large youth population that could well incite its own "Iranian Spring," leading to regime change, especially if international support were given them.
The US cannot use the military option every time a country refuses its demand to end its nuclear program. The day could come when pent-up hatred for America's bullying use of military force drives one of these countries, or a surrogate, to use such a weapon against us.