Machiavelli and the Mullahs

This article had a really good connection with the two things that we are talking about in class, Iran and The Prince.  This article gives President Bush three key things that will help with the problems with Iran and nuclear weapons.  The article tells President Bush to have self-reliance, be feared, and to take initiative once conflict happens.  The first one is really important.  To be a force in Iran, we have to rely on ourselves.  We can't wait for other countries to help us or to do things first.  We have to have confidence in ourselves to get things done over there.  Second, we have to be feared because if not, Iran won't think anything of us and will continue making nuclear weapons.  They'll think that we don't care and we won't do anything.  We will be a country that people and countries can walk all over if we are not feared.  Third, we have to take initiative once war begins.  We are a very strong country and other countries look up to us for that reason.  If we don't do anything, no one will.  If we don't do anything, and just sit by the sidelines, nothing will get done and we will witness devastating things, like murder, war and other sorts of trouble.  We don't need anything like a Holocaust to happen again, where we waited millions of people too late to respond to anything.  Once the first hint of something happens, it is our responsibility to do something.  The Prince has issues in it that can be put into effect in our world today, even hundreds of years after it was written.