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    Back to To the Point

    To the Point

    Dissecting the Iran Memo

    Diplomacy's at a standstill, so President Obama is pushing for UN sanctions to prevent Iran from learning how to build an atomic bomb. What if that doesn't work? In a secret three-page memo leaked to the New York Times , Defense Secretary Robert Gates himself says there is no plan, no effective long-range policy.

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    By Warren Olney • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

    Diplomacy's at a standstill, so President Obama is pushing for UN sanctions to prevent Iran from learning how to build an atomic bomb. What if that doesn't work? In a secret three-page memo leaked to the New York Times, Defense Secretary Robert Gates himself says there is no plan, no effective long-range policy. Would sanctions impacting the whole population turn Iranians against their Islamic leaders? Are there other ways to accomplish regime change? If the US can't take military action, what about Israel? Is there any realistic alternative to living with an Iran that has mastered nuclear technology?

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    Iran, the Bomb and American Policy
    1. 0:00Obama Meets with Senate Leaders on Supreme Court Picks
    2. 7:22Dissecting the Iran MemoYou’re reading this
    3. 43:01Is the US Auto Industry Finally Beginning to Roll?
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Warren Olney

      former KCRW broadcaster

    • KCRW placeholder

      Christian Bordal

      Managing Producer, Greater LA

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Darrell Satzman

      Producer

    • KCRW placeholder

      David Sanger

      Pulitzer Prize-winning White House and national security correspondent for the New York Times, author of “New Cold Wars: China’s Rise, Russia’s Invasion, and America’s Struggle to Defend The West”

    • KCRW placeholder

      Tony Karon

      Time magazine

    • KCRW placeholder

      Michael Rubin

      American Enterprise Institute

      NewsNationalPolitics

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    Iran, the Bomb and American Policy
    1. 0:00Obama Meets with Senate Leaders on Supreme Court Picks
    2. 7:22Dissecting the Iran MemoYou’re reading this
    3. 43:01Is the US Auto Industry Finally Beginning to Roll?
    Back to To the Point