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Kissinger: President Bush Will 'Do the Right Thing' on Iran
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger knows something of nuclear showdowns. He and Richard Nixon faced one when the U.S and it's allies sent the USSR packing from the middle east in the early 70's. Back then there were only two nuclear powers. Kissinger warned that we must stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons now, or there will be a score or more of nuclear states before long. However, Kissinger cautions that bombing Iran is not the first step. America must show the world we have exhausted diplomacy before we strike Iran militarily. "At some point we have to talk to them," he told Neil Cavuto, host of the Fox News program "Your World," "because at some point we may have to get tough. And we can't get tough without having to go through a phase of negotiations. And we've got to be able to prove to our public that we have done everything we can in order to bring this to a conclusion by diplomatic means."
Story Continues Below And what course should those discussions take? "The first thing we have to decide," he said, "is what are the consequences of nuclear weapons in the hands of that country? "There is of course the issue of its government and its totally reckless and irresponsible nature, but there is also the impact of the acquisition of nuclear weapons by a country of this kind, particularly when it has defied all of the advanced countries in the world including Russia and China who are telling it that they shouldn't have nuclear weapons. "The impact on other countries would be enormous in the sense that almost any country with any technical ability to enrich uranium will try to do this. Then we will live in a world of 20 or 30 nuclear countries." Kissinger said that he and many others had to conduct foreign policy under the tensions between only two nuclear powers, and "if we permit [Iran] to have nuclear weapons, we have to know we're living in a world of constant danger." Cavuto then asked how President Bush can deal with Iran, since his poll ratings are so low - in Nixonian territory. "When Nixon was in low territory, there was a Middle East war, we used it to in fact drive the Soviets out of the Middle East, and we went through a period of a nuclear alert, which we overcame, so at some point the president has to do what he thinks is right. "From what I know of President Bush," Kissinger emphasized with a finger pointed in the air, "he will do what is right. What he thinks is right, and he will not be driven in a matter of this kind by polls." "What is your sense of the world's resolve on Iran?" Cavuto asked. "At this point, there is some degree of unity (among the countries of the world) because it can be used as an excuse to delay action. But they know the consequences of nuclear weapons and they've all said they're against nuclear weapons, but there are also immediate pressures that make them very reluctant to take strong action. There's the oil in Iran, and there is the danger of terrorism." As for a strike on Iran, Kissinger clarified: "When I say tough, I don't necessarily mean military force; it means sanctions that bite and that have a significant impact."
Editor's note:
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics: Inside Cover Stories
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