How to Challenge Iran's Militancy Without Using Arms

This is a thoughtful opinion piece on how to deal with Iran. Although, it might be too late to influence those capable of stopping a likely attack by the Bushies before he leaves office:

There have been persistent rumors in Washington that President Bush does not want to leave office without "doing something" about Iran. Even more alarming, there have been rumors that Mr. Bush has solicited a green light from Russian President Vladimir Putin for Israel to "do something" about Iran.

One of the central problems with the Bush administration is that it thinks military first and sometimes military only – with disastrous results for America. Though military action is an option, the consequences of the United States or Israel attacking Iran would be catastrophic.

At least go on record that you oppose this madness. Don't remain silent while a neo-fascist administration commits aggression again:

Fortunately, the American people do not want this to happen. Only 10 percent approve of a military confrontation with Iran, according to a CBS/New York Times poll in March, and most worry about America's troubled relationship with the Muslim world. A large majority are concerned that the Iraq war is destroying America's international reputation. They do not want to make matters worse.

Believe it or not, Iran was on its way to becoming a more democratic society before Bush and his neocon administration began the name calling. Remember, Iran was a democracy before the CIA overthrew it and installed a puppet monarch who brutalized the country; which led to the fall of the Shah and the Islamic takeover in the late 1970s. U.S. foreign policy towards Iran since then has been foolhardy:

Iran is not Al Qaeda. It is a complex society that combines clerical rule, populism, and a series of power groups. The most dangerous are the Revolutionary Guard, composed of a powerful and wealthy military elite, whose influence can only continue if the world isolates Iran.

Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, also depends on the populist appeal of confrontation with the West – bolstered recently by the Bush administration's labeling of the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization. The Achilles' heel is that Mr. Ahmadinejad's popular appeal only works when the West is unpopular, and nothing could be more unpopular to Iranians than a US-inspired attack. An external attack often shifts public opinion to the hard right.