Victor Davis Hanson (Doesn't) Want Obama to Bomb Iran

In a bizarre episode of reverse psychology/wishful thinking/I don't know how to explain it, Hoover's Victor Davis Hanson may, or may not, want Obama to bomb Iran. Hanson argues that a poll-desperate Obama, embarrassed by the unemployment rate and debt, may well turn to an aggressive stance on Iran for some semblance of success.

As a candidate, Obama criticized the Bush administration for not reaching out and talking with Iran’s theocratic leadership. As president, Obama has done that. He even muted his criticism of the brutal Iranian crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations after the 2009 election. But Obama soon found that the Iranians saw his outreach as appeasement, and so only increased their breakneck efforts to get a bomb.

Now everyone from the Israelis to the Sunni Arab nations is pressuring the United States to do something before a radical and nuclear Iran changes the complexion of the entire Middle East. If the erstwhile peace candidate Barack Obama were to confront Iran, conservatives might well support his resolve. Then Democratic candidates would find a more united nation that was suddenly far more worried about Mideast armageddon than unemployment and record deficits. Unlike past October surprises, in this one the pro-Obama media would probably be far less cynical in its coverage of presidential motives.

But Iran won’t go nuclear in the next two months. So let us hope that the current unpopular administration waits for a while before deciding between the rotten choice of using military force against Tehran and the even worse alternative of a nuclear Iran.

Hanson has argued against it during the Bush administration, but has also said, "That option is still down the road."