Despite predictions of an impending invasion of Iran, it is unlikely military action will actually take place, former White House Aide Gary Sick said Thursday night at Grainger Hall.
Sick, who served on the U.S. National Security Council under Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, said it would be very difficult for President Bush's administration to start a war with Iran in current circumstances.
Sick gave several reasons for his position, saying first that an invasion of Iran would not be effective.
You're not talking about bombing one site,"" he said. ""You're talking about hundreds '¦ it's a big operation.""
Although a bombing would set Iran back from building up its nuclear infrastructure, Sick predicted it would actually encourage them to build nuclear weapons - o - osomething he said Iran has not done.
Furthermore, when faced with an enemy in the United States, Sick said he believes Iranians will rally around their administration, despite national disapproval of their current president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
""People who tell you there's a new revolution brewing in Iran really don't know what they're talking about,"" he said. ""These people have been through a revolution '¦ they just want to get on with their lives.""
Though Sick admitted there are those in Washington who support a war with Iran, there is a much stronger opposition to a military strategy.
According to Sick, if Bush attempted to go to war tomorrow, he would be opposed by the Secretary of Defense, most of Congress, and the Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He added there would also be ""absolutely zero support from any other country in the world.""
According to Sick, there have been strong predictions of imminent war since August 2006. The result has been no action and more predictions. Sick said he supports these predictions because they concern the American people. However, he does not actually believe anything is going to happen.
""I know that there are people in Washington who really, really want to go to war,"" Sick said. ""But '¦ my conclusion is that this is merely sound and fury, and signifies nothing.""
