America's containment strategy against the Soviet Union during the Cold War was a remarkable success. Indeed, so successful was it that it is being reprised with respect to Iran. Tehran must feel almost claustrophobic, as this little map from Juan Cole's blog illustrates (stars represent US bases).
Sure, there'll be a bit more breathing space in the west once the US leaves Iraq, and if the US continues to obliterate Pakistani border posts then the eastern flank might open up a bit, but at the moment the Yankees have got the Persians pretty well boxed in.
Or so you thought. Because those sons of Xerxes are clever little things, and they have been attempting a bit of containment of their own. It would nearly have succeeded as well, if the US Republican Party hadn't been awake to it. Over a year ago the North Carolina Republicans began revealing this perfidious Persian strategy, and now the hot tamale is out of the bag.
Republican presidential nomination candidate Rick Perry has revealed that Hizbullah is being used by Iran to come to the US through Mexico, and he has called for a new Monroe doctrine to stop it. Another Republican candidate, Mitt Romney, backed up this view, even calling it an imminent threat. The Mexican Foreign Minister, Patricia Espinosa, naturally denied the accusation, but then again, she would, wouldn't she?
It won't be long before the Republican Party's Iran research teams will begin applying the blowtorch to those multicultural Canadians, because we all know what a soft touch they are and how hard it is to contain a country from only one side...
