THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION

Imagine you are a contestant on the Television show “How to be a Millionaire.” The host of the show says, “Are you Ready? You are one question away from going home with one million dollars.” The dramatic music plays, the audience begins to cheer, and your heart begins to pound. You speak slowly, and trying to sound confident, you say, “Yes.”

The host says, “For one-million dollars.... What is the correct way to resolve the current situation in Iraq? Remember, if you answer incorrectly, you do not take home a million dollars!

Here are your choices:

1. Do nothing, hoping Iran’s intentions are good and they will never create a nuclear weapon to use on the U.S. or others.

2. Seek U.N. sanctions against Iran and hope that it will deter them from continuing on their present course.

3. Launch a military strike against Iran.
Use special forces to attempt to assassinate the leader of Iran.”



Now if that question is difficult for a game show contestant, try answering it when a lot more than a million dollars is on the line! A wrong answer could lead to a war or an attack years down the road on the US by Iran! The truth is, all situations that involve the governments of different countries are very complicated. So, how would you answer the question of how to resolve the situation with Iran?

Let’s look at our options:

Do nothing: This option has short-term benefits. There is no threat of war and no tensions between countries. But we need to think about the long-term consequences. Is Iran a friend to the United States? I think most people would agree that Iran is not a country that we would want to just assume would never attack US or help others to do so. I would point readers to the Newsweek article: 9/11 The Iran factor. This article shows that the final report of the 9-11 Commission revealed troubling new evidence that Iran was closer to Al Qaeda than Iraq was! This would at least give some evidence that Iran is a threat! To do nothing may only put off the inevitable and could cause us to be vulnerable for a deadly attack. This is not an option I feel comfortable with. You can read the article at: www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5457389/site/newsweek

Seek U.N. sanctions. I am for having as many nations as possible united against Iran. If we have learned anything in Iraq, it is that to go alone or with only a small coalition is not a great idea. But, we have also learned that U.N. sanctions are not very effective. Remember how the U.N. ended up putting money in the hands of Saddam Hussein. I would point people to:www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,135654,00.html

You can do the research and find many stories that demonstrate that the U.N. is by no means the solution to this problem

Launch a military strike: I cannot look to this solution with any sense of confidence. If we attack, what are the consequences? Do we simply attack the nuclear facilities? Do we seek to destroy the current government? If we attack in any way, we must have as many nations of the world supporting the action as possible! This is a must, especially given our current situation in Iraq. We cannot find ourselves in a large military action in both Iran and Iraq and then have other countries upset and want to retaliate against us.

Assassinate the president of Iran. This is against American policy and would probably cause more problems than it would solve.


Well, the clock is ticking. Do you have an answer? I have to admit that this is a complicated situation. I am hoping that the world’s governments will put pressure on Iran, and they will finally back down. I hope Iran’s bark is worse than their bite. North Korea is a great example of a country that makes threats but in recent history has backed down. However, I can’t help but think that at some point in history, America and Iran will collide. The million-dollar question may not be one of how to avoid it, but rather of when it will happen.

Written by:
Trevor J. Hammack