Think tank: War with Iran must be avoided at all costs
LONDON — A British report has warned that war with Iran would be a disaster for Western interests.
The Oxford Research Group said that any U.S.-British war with Iran
would plunge the
Middle East into violence. A report by the think tank concluded any U.S. air strike
would invite Islamic retaliation against Western interests throughout the
region.
"Going to war with Iran will make matters far worse, playing directly
into the hands of extreme elements and adding greatly to the violence across
the region," the report, released on Monday, said. "Whatever the problems
with Iran, war should be avoided at all costs."
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The report was released as the British government was said to be
discussing war options against Teheran with the United States. British media
reports said Prime Minister Gordon Brown has pledged that the British
military would help Washington in any attempt to destroy Iran's nuclear
weapons program.
The Oxford Research Group urged a reassessment of the Western military
strategy against Islamic adversaries. The report said the war against Al
Qaida and its allies was failing and called for a Western withdrawal from
Afghanistan and Iraq.
"If the Al Qaida movement is to be countered, then the roots of its
support must be understood and systematically undercut," said Paul Rogers,
the report's author and professor of global peace studies at Bradford
University in northern England. "Combined with conventional policing and
security
measures, Al Qaida can be contained and minimised but this will require a
change in policy at every level."
Entitled "Alternatives to the War on Terror," the think tank said Iran
and its ally Syria must be wooed by the West through diplomacy. Rogers said
Islamic insurgency groups in Afganistan should be granted aid in an attempt
to turn them into political partners.
"Failure to make the necessary changes could result in the war on terror
lasting decades," the report said.
