The Bush Administration's Second Worst Decision Ever

In one respect, the governments of the United States and Iran are similar. These two very different systems share a peculiar feature. When the government takes an outrageous position, or provokes international furor through some action, there is a good chance that the "official line" is far from the consensus opinion of a sovereign state's government. Take yesterday's news that the State department may place Iran's Revolutionary Guard on the list of terrorist organizations. An Iranian might conclude that America's government is irreconcilably hostile to his nation. In fact, he is just witnessesing a ploy for power by a single ideological stratum within the Bush administration. But how would he know? Americans are similarly unable to identify who is truly responsible for any number of international incedents provoked by Iran. Who ordered the capture of British troops in disputed waters several months ago? Ahmedinejad? Unlikely. The Supreme Leader? Who knows? Perhaps just a more radical sect of Iran's armed forces acting independently. But in this latest incident in the three decade long comedy of errors, we can squarely put the blame mainly on Secretary Rice and Vice President Cheney. The two are rightly frustrated with the lack of progress regarding Iran's nuclear program, but they don't seem to understand that they have just made the situation much, much, worse.
The Revolutionary Guard may not be equatable with, say, the Salvation Army, but classifying them as a terrorist organization belies our commitment to take organizations like Al-Qaeda seriously. There are serious complaints about the guards activities in Iraq and Afghanistan, but Iran is also playing a constructive role in these two nations. Remember, in both nations the US replaced Sunni regimes that were mostly hostile to Iran. The fundamental pillar on which the concept of terrorism rests is that a terrorist is a criminal, not a soldier. He can be arrested, put on trial, and convicted for his crimes in a a court of law. (Of course, the administration doesn't really seem to understand that either) But a soldier is not a criminal. In a just legal system, one that respects internaitonal law, he is not put on trial for the act of taking up arms for his nation. What signal is the administration trying to send by classifying Iran's armed forces as a criminal organization? How can Iranians of any political stripe, regardless of what they think of the Revolutionary Guards, see it as anything but an affront to their sovereignty? If President Bush is prudent, he will disbause anymore notions of this silliness before it gets out of hand, and we once more go to the brink with Iran.