Recently, Cheney created quite a stir in some circles by saying that “all options are still on the table” with respect to Iran. Even more recently, Obama said “we should take no option, including military action, off the table.” So, if Cheney is a war-mongerer, Obama is, too.

Vice President Cheney, speaking in Australia on February 24:

. . . we are deeply concerned and have made it very clear we’re deeply concerned about Iran’s activities. We see a nation that has been fairly aggressive in the Middle East as a sponsor of Hezbollah, working through the Syrians and Hezbollah to create problems for the government of Lebanon. They have made some fairly inflammatory statements—their President, Ahmadinejad. They appear to be pursuing the development of nuclear weapons through uranium enrichment. We’ve worked with the European Community and through the United Nations to put in place a set of policies to persuade the Iranians to give up their aspirations and to resolve the matter peacefully. That’s still our preference.

But I’ve also made the point and the President has made the point that all options are still on the table. Next step now is being debated between our government and the others involved. Nick Burns, the number three man in the State Department, is I believe in London today to negotiate with our European friends who have been in the effort, the Brits, the French and the Germans, on the future course of action that we want to pursue with respect to the United Nations sanctions and so forth. And I don’t have anything beyond that, that I can say at this point other than that we believe it would be a serious mistake if a nation such as Iran were to become a nuclear power.

Senator Obama, speaking at the American-Israeli Political Action Committe (AIPAC) Policy Forum on March 2:

The world must work to stop Iran’s uranium enrichment program and prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. It is far too dangerous to have nuclear weapons in the hands of a radical theocracy. And while we should take no option, including military action, off the table, sustained and aggressive diplomacy combined with tough sanctions should be our primary means to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons.

Iranian nuclear weapons would destabilize the region and could set off a new arms race. Some nations in the region, such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, could fall away from restraint and rush into a nuclear contest that could fuel greater instability in the region—that’s not just bad for the Middle East, but bad for the world, making it a vastly more dangerous and unpredictable place. Other nations would feel great pressure to accommodate Iranian demands. Terrorist groups with Iran’s backing would feel emboldened to act even more brazenly under an Iranian nuclear umbrella. And as the A.Q. Kahn network in Pakistan demonstrated, Iran could spread this technology around the world.