Why can’t Iran be contained just as the Soviet Union was?
There are those in your country and in
the United States who believe that a containment strategy would actually work.
I think Iran is very different. They put their zealotry above
their survival and suicide bombers are all over the place and I wouldn’t rely
on their rationality. You know, since the advent of nuclear weapons, you had
countries that had access to nuclear weapons who always made a careful calculation
of cost and benefit, but Iran is guided by a leadership with an unbelievable fanaticism . It is the same
fanaticism that you see storming embassies today. You want these fanatics to
have nuclear weapons? I mean I’ve heard
some people suggest, I actually read this in a magazine - well, you know, if you take action - that’s a
lot worse than having Iran with nuclear weapons. Some have even said that Iran with nuclear
weapons would stabilize the Middle East. Stabilize the Middle East! I think the people who say this set a new
standard for human stupidity.
