General David Petraeus didn’t get the Leveretts’ memos on the wonders of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the political acumen of Ahmadinejad, and the absence of a military dictatorship. Or maybe he did, rolled his eyes in disgust, and returned to reality. Thankfully, he is the one who heads CENTCOM. And he isn’t about to mince words:

“Iran has gone from a theocracy to a thugacracy,” he said [on CNN], “because of the citizens who are outraged by the hijacking of the election that took place last June.”

Saying that Iran has rejected the open hand that the Obama administration extended, Petraeus said, “The result is the transition by not just the United States — France the U.K., even Russia are all seeing the need to transition to the so-called pressure track, with much stiffer sanctions and so forth.”

Asked whether a nuclear Iran could be contained, Petraeus said, “First of all you have to ask the country that is most directly concerns about this, and that would be Israel.”

In the gulf states, Petraeus said, “There’s almost a slight degree of bipolarity there at times. On the one hand there are countries that would like to see a strike — perhaps Israeli — there’s the worry that someone will strike. And then there’s the worry that someone won’t strike.”

One wonders if the same moral clarity is shared by others in the administration. Is there anyone else on the Obama team who recognizes that military action — or the threat of such action — may be the only option we have? Well, if the goal is — it is, right? — to prevent the mullahs from obtaining nuclear weapons, we may want to keep that option on the table. Let’s hope that is still our goal. Then all we will need is a policy designed to achieve it.