Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Colin Kahl’s feisty new report on how the U.S. might contain a nuclear-armed Iran

Colin Kahl’s new report on containing a nuclear Iran (done with a couple of his homies) is long, but worth it. I was asked to suggest cuts to a draft and honestly couldn’t find any. It is the best thing I have read about Iran policy in a long time. The problem is that much ...

By , a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy.
CNAS
CNAS
CNAS

Colin Kahl's new report on containing a nuclear Iran (done with a couple of his homies) is long, but worth it. I was asked to suggest cuts to a draft and honestly couldn't find any. It is the best thing I have read about Iran policy in a long time.

Colin Kahl’s new report on containing a nuclear Iran (done with a couple of his homies) is long, but worth it. I was asked to suggest cuts to a draft and honestly couldn’t find any. It is the best thing I have read about Iran policy in a long time.

The problem is that much what he is recommending for containment is expensive stuff like forward-deployed missile defenses and conventional forces, and defense budgets are going in the other direction. He also wants us to get more involved in Syria and in attacking Iranian networks of “covert operatives, surrogates and proxies” across the region.

Thomas E. Ricks is a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy. Twitter: @tomricks1

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