“(most notably Charles Krauthammer and Condi&the State Department) that have swallowed whole the ‘moderates in Iran’ myth, “
There’s a big difference between moderates in the population and moderates in the gov’t. I don’t believe Krauthammer and Condi are on the same page in this regard.
The majority of Iranian people want to see the end of this regime. I don’t think anyone disputes that. (except for Leftists and IRI sycophants)
Where the State Dept makes its mistake and where I believe Krauthammer parts ways with them, is whether there really is any hope of a truly moderate regime that could ever be an ally of ours. There is not.
The regime must be dismantled/overthrown. Period. I think Krauthammer understands that. (but maybe I’m wrong)
” The regime must be dismantled/overthrown. Period. I think Krauthammer understands that. (but maybe I’m wrong) “
Exactly.. I’ll go one step farther and say that the regime needs to be utterly defeated, humiliated, and discredited....
And that, IMO, just ain’t gonna happen from within — there just aren’t many examples in history of repressive police states being overthrown by ‘moderate’, pro-democracy movements... (History is, however, replete with dictatorships being overthrown and supplanted by even worse dictators...)
I’ve seen some Krauthammer articles that seem to hold out the hope that the regime can be changed by ‘peaceful’ political means...