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.
