Starting a War Is Not Using Force as a 'Last Resort'

Military “options” offer no solution, and the only thing that can salvage the situation is the resumption of negotiations.

Matt Kroenig is sad that the U.S. may not start the war that he has wanted for years:

President Biden says he is willing to use force as a last resort, but the moment of last resort is now and Mr. Biden isn’t readying military options [bold mine-DL]. The 20-year international effort to keep Iran from the bomb has likely failed.

If that effort fails (it hasn’t yet), it will have been because our government followed the recommendations of Iran hawks like Kroenig that have worked to undermine the nuclear deal and cheered on Trump’s withdrawal from it. Kroenig and Mark Dubowitz were agitating for war with Iran last year, and fortunately they have not yet gotten what they want. The best way to guarantee that Iran finally quits the Non-Proliferation Treaty and builds nuclear weapons is to keep threatening to attack their country. Military “options” offer no solution, and the only thing that can salvage the situation is the resumption of negotiations. We have been fortunate that Iran has not yet gone down the same path that North Korea took, but if the hawks get their way it is probably just a matter of time before they do.