“What we want to do is to send a message to whoever is making these decisions, that if you’re pursuing nuclear weapons for the purpose of intimidating, of projecting your power, we’re not going to let that happen,” Clinton said.

“First, we’re going to do everything we can to prevent you from ever getting a nuclear weapon. But your pursuit is futile, because we will never let Iran — nuclear-armed, not nuclear-armed — it is something that we view with great concern, and that’s why we’re doing everything we can to prevent that from ever happening. … We believe, as a matter of policy, it is unacceptable for Iran to have nuclear weapons.”

As a security summit in Thailand earlier this week, Clinton raised the possibility of a “defense umbrella” over the Middle East to protect other nations from a nuclear-armed Iran, marking the first time a senior administration official has publicly broached the prospect of the Persian nation succeeding in building a nuclear weapon.

As a matter of diplomacy, this kind of talk can be very effective—if it’s credible. Even if you’re bluffing, if the bluff is credible, that can be effective diplomacy.

If, however, your adversary doesn’t believe you’ll follow through, this kind of aggressive talk can actually backfire and make your threats seem hollow. Do we have any way to telling what the IRGC-Ahmadinejad-Khamene’i clique think of us? Hmm. If only there were a newspaper whose editor is personally appointed by the Rahbar. Oh, wait, there is. It’s Kayhan. And here’s Michael Rubin quoting from an editorial of theirs (scroll down):

What punishments they threaten are to persuade Iran to come to the negotiation table, not in order to punish Iran after eventual failure of negotiations which they themselves know is neither realistic nor effective. For now the situation is this: that the Americans in a very impolite way and like uncivilized cowboys beg Iran to negotiate. Their imperialist nature has not yet taught them that begging someone to negotiate with has its own ways and shouting and screaming in a state of emergency can’t be interpreted as a sign of strength. The final and returning point is…that they have no strategy, but only beg to negotiate. After the elections they for a couple of days wanted to speculate that something had changed in Iran and that they should use a different method, but not much time had passed after which they found out that the governments in Iran only execute the decisions of the Leader…

So either they don’t believe us—which could be very hazardous to their health—or they’ve called our bluff. You make the call.

Confucius, Œc. Vol.

Don’t ask impertinent questions like that jackass Adept Lu.