Over the past thirty years, while the United States has turned
either a blind or dismissive eye, Iran has emerged as a nation
every bit as capable of altering America's destiny as traditional
superpowers Russia and China. Indeed, one of this book's central
arguments is that, in some ways, Iran's grip on America's future is
even tighter.
As ex-CIA operative Robert Baer masterfully shows, Iran has
maneuvered itself into the elite superpower ranks by exploiting
Americans' false perceptions of what Iran is--by letting us believe
it is a country run by scowling religious fanatics, too preoccupied
with theocratic jostling and terrorist agendas to strengthen its
political and economic foundations.
The reality is much more frightening--and yet contained in the
potential catastrophe is an implicit political response that, if
we're bold enough to adopt it, could avert disaster.
Baer's on-the-ground sleuthing and interviews with key Middle East
players--everyone from an Iranian ayatollah to the king of Bahrain
to the head of Israel's internal security--paint a picture of the
centuries-old Shia nation that is starkly the opposite of the one
normally drawn. For example, Iran's hate-spouting President
Ahmadinejad is by no means the true spokesman for Iranian foreign
policy, nor is Iran making it the highest priority to become a
nuclear player.
Even so, Baer has discovered that Iran is currently engaged in a
soft takeover of the Middle East, that the proxy method of
war-making and co-option it perfected with Hezbollah in Lebanon is
being exported throughout the region, that Iran now controls a
significant portion of Iraq, that it is extending its influence
over Jordan and Egypt, that the Arab Emirates and other Gulf States
are being pulled into its sphere, and that it will shortly have a
firm hold on the world's oil spigot.
By mixing anecdotes with information gleaned from clandestine
sources, Baer superbly demonstrates that Iran, far from being a
wild-eyed rogue state, is a rational actor--one skilled in the game
of nations and so effective at thwarting perceived Western
colonialism that even rival Sunnis relish fighting under its
banner.
For U.S. policy makers, the choices have narrowed: either cede the
world's most important energy corridors to a nation that can match
us militarily with its asymmetric capabilities (which include the
use of suicide bombers)--or deal with the devil we know. We might
just find that in allying with Iran, we'll have increased not just
our own security but that of all Middle East nations.The
alternative--to continue goading Iran into establishing hegemony
over the Muslim world--is too chilling to contemplate.
"From the Hardcover edition."
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