Hersh on Iran

THE NEXT ACT Is a damaged Administration less likely to attack Iran, or more?
by SEYMOUR M. HERSH

Regarding Iran, the problem is not the president (though he is a problem), the problem is a two party congress. The only way Cheney and Bush could go around Congress is if they let them. It is not enough to have an incompetent president to run amok, you need an incompetent and complacent congress, too.

Cheney would welcome an attack, but what's scary for me is that there are Democratic leaders who would jump at the chance, too.

The Bush Administration, if it does take military action against Iran, would have support from Democrats as well as Republicans. Senators Hillary Clinton, of New York, and Evan Bayh, of Indiana, who are potential Democratic Presidential candidates, have warned that Iran cannot be permitted to build a bomb and that—as Clinton said earlier this year—“we cannot take any option off the table.” Howard Dean, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, has also endorsed this view.