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US Can Deter and Contain Iran, Brzezinski Says

Zbigniew Brzezinski says the United States has “no implicit obligation to follow like a stupid mule” an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear sites and that a US or an Israeli attack on the Islamic Republic would be “the worst option” should negotiations fail, Barbara Slavin writes for Al-Monitor.

Former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington February 1, 2007.   REUTERS/Jim Young    (UNITED STATES)
Former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Capitol Hill, Feb. 1, 2007. — REUTERS/Jim Young

Former White House national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski said Monday [Nov. 26] that the United States has “no implicit obligation to follow like a stupid mule” an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear sites and that a US or an Israeli attack on the Islamic Republic would be “the worst option” should negotiations fail.

It’s no secret that Brzezinski, who served President Jimmy Carter during the 1978-79 Iranian revolution and the subsequent US hostage crisis, opposes war with Iran. However, on Monday he fleshed out his arguments in favor of what amounts to a containment strategy as the “least bad” alternative in the event that Iran develops a nuclear weapon.

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