# Should the U.S. be trying to destabilize the Iranian regime?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-u-s-be-trying-to-destabilize-the-iranian-regime/529439>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [February 18, 2010, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-u-s-be-trying-to-destabilize-the-iranian-regime/529439 "2010-02-18T03:46:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\
**Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-u-s-be-trying-to-destabilize-the-iranian-regime/529439/21 "2010-02-19T02:45:37Z")

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> [@YogSosoth](#):
>
> That’s almost just as bad. Assuming she wants to be re-elected, she’s probably invade a country any time her poll numbers drop. And the worst thing about that is the blatant acknowledgement that it’s done for political reasons!

Well, I think you may be parsing this too closely:

> [@](#):
>
> On “Fox News Sunday,” where the former Republican vice-presidential candidate is now a paid commentator, Palin suggested that Obama might be likely to win reelection if he “played the war card.”
> 
> The AP reports:
> 
> > [@](#):
> >
> > Palin says that declaring war on Iran or showing stronger support for Israel might convince voters that Obama is tougher than they think on national security and doing all he can to protect the U.S. Otherwise, according to Palin, Obama won’t be re-elected if he continues on his current path.

Don’t forget, Palin is playing the populist here, and probably sincerely **is** a populist with respect to those rural-conservative Americans she has called the “real” Americans (and whose numbers and voting strength she probably still, subconsciously, overestimates). The implicit assumptions are (1) whatever the American people (so defined) want is the Right Thing, and (2) the American people want toughness on national security in the terms she is presenting. Any potential conflict between those two assumptions is denied or, more to the point, ignored. In fact, Palin might not even be capable of conceiving the possibility of such conflict. In those terms, “blatantly political reasons” are perfectly sound reasons to invade Iran, etc.

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