10 Reasons Not to Bomb Iran
(or threaten to do so)

1. Iran currently has no nuclear weapons. Bombing will likely increase its desire to acquire them.

   • Iran has signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NNPT), and has consistently allowed inspections by and negotiated with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The IAEA, which has proven in Iraq to be a far more reliable guide than the Bush Administration and their media, has consistently said that Iran is not acting as if it were seeking to possess nuclear weapons. At most, the Iranian leadership seems divided on whether the country should seek to obtain nuclear weapons, a split reflected in popular Iranian attitudes to nuclear weapons. There is grave danger that bombing Iran will unite the country behind the current political leadership and in support of acquiring nuclear weapons.

   • Moreover, the U. S. willingness to negotiate with North Korea, which has secretly developed nuclear weapons, stands in sharp contrast to its refusal to negotiate with Iran, which has no such weapons. The logical conclusion that the regime in Tehran must draw is that the U. S. will only negotiate after it acquires nuclear weapons.

2. Bombing Iran risks a major war.

   • The costs of such a war, both in casualties and monies diverted from domestic needs could potentially dwarf what has happened in Iraq.

3. Bombing Iran will kill many civilians.

   • As the post-mortems from the first Gulf War make clear, the very concept of "surgical" bombing is a myth. Because the targets will likely include "dual use" facilities, massive civilian casualties will be the inevitable result.

4. Bombing Iran violates international law.

   • Attacking a country that has neither attacked the U.S. nor aided those who have done so violates international law and is patently immoral. The U.S. shredding of international standards has severely damaged our standing in the world.

5. Bombing Iran will increase the terrorists' ability to recruit and work with others.

   • Even the CIA agrees that the U. S. invasion and occupation of Iraq has raised the terrorist threat to the U. S. by helping al-Qaeda recruit and by bringing Iraqi nationalists into an alliance of convenience with jihadists. Bombing Iran poses similar risks.

6. Bombing will likely lead Iran to retaliate against U.S. forces in Iraq.

   • Unlike Iraq, which had been weakened by being defeated in the first Gulf War, and more than a decade of crippling sanctions, Iran has a powerful military backed up by a growing economy. The most obvious U.S. targets for Iranian retaliation for the bombing are the U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, but shipping lanes in the Persian Gulf are also potentially at risk, and more distant retaliation is also a possibility.

7. Bombing Iran will constrict civil liberties in the U.S.

   • War has historically led to the limitation of basic freedoms in the name of security. In the wake of the invasion of Afghanistan, more than 10,000 US residents were detained, many in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. None were ever charged with, much less convicted of, a terrorist offense.

8. Bombing Iran will further alienate peoples and states around the globe.

   • The U.S.'s unilateral military action in the face of worldwide opposition will convince many that the U. S. is a dangerous bully.

9. Bombing Iran will strengthen the current regime and block reform.

   • As happened in the U.S. after 9/11, if the U.S. bombs Iran the Iranian population will most likely unite behind Ahmadinejad and the clerics. The U.S., along with the British, overthrew the democratically elected government of Mossadeq in1953. Iranians remember and strongly oppose that episode of "regime change" and are opposed to any renewed attempts.

10. Bombing Iran will likely destroy the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

    • The NNPT bars non-nuclear powers from acquiring such weapons and requires nuclear powers to move to get rid of them. IAEA inspections of nuclear activities are meant to verify compliance with these requirements. Whereas Israel, India, and Pakistan have not signed the NNPT or allowed inspections, Iran has consistently allowed IAEA inspections. If we bomb a country that is consistently receiving clean IAEA inspections, we invalidate the purpose of the NNPT. It will become increasingly irrelevant and ignored, especially if the U.S. continues to develop a new generation of nuclear weapons and helps India augment its nuclear arsenal.