Marginalizing Moderation

A couple of weeks ago, I posted:

We've now got quite a distinguished history of lying our way into war when other nations won't give us a reason. This should outrage anyone who is really interested in stopping nuclear proliferation in places like Iran, as we've made it crystal-clear that unless a nation possesses the ultimate deterrent, it risks being attacked by a superpower manifestly willing to concoct a frame-up or provocation.

AP:

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday blamed U.S. policy for inciting other countries to seek nuclear weapons to defend themselves from an "almost uncontained use of military force" a stinging attack that underscored growing tensions between Washington and Moscow.

"Unilateral, illegitimate actions have not solved a single problem, they have become a hotbed of further conflicts," Putin said at a security forum attracting senior officials from around the world.

From the new issue of Newsweek:

At least one former White House official contends that some Bush advisers secretly want an excuse to attack Iran. "They intend to be as provocative as possible and make the Iranians do something [America] would be forced to retaliate for," says Hillary Mann, the administration's former National Security Council director for Iran and Persian Gulf Affairs.

And if Iran doesn't take the bait and "force" us to retaliate, we'll break out the Iraq playbook and simply make something up again. We've created a situation in which any Iranian (or any citizen of a dozen other developing countries) with a sense of national self-preservation must want to possess the only effective deterrent -- and as soon as possible.

Brilliant.