Betting here that this story gets buried behind the surfing dogs and the wildfires in California. But America knows, we all know dear leader is full of shit, and ethanol subsidies drive up the price of corn. Reminds me of that 2006 moment when gas prices were falling ahead of the election, America didn't blink. They knew the Bush people were playing games.

I guess the truth oozes into the collective brain somehow without Brian Williams helping it along.

Zoellick is a big name Neo-conservative. (If you're interested in that report get it before they scrub the website clean)

Poor Chinese sit around their fires and melt the solder and other metals from recycled circuit boards. They sell the toxic mess. The material is exported by industrial nations who use mountains of this stuff. Perhaps this practise has changed, especially with the Olympics. Apparently the McCain campaign has a plan to ship this stuff free to Iran, you can put together the text of his proposal without much trouble.

I am surprised you don't understand that Iraq's claims of sovereignty represent a threat to the long range plans of the Neoconservatives, to hegemonize the Middle East. All that stands between Aghanistan and Iraq is the Persian empire.

Secondly the Democratic administration of Bill Clinton maintained military pressure on Iraq after Gulf War I, and made the Iraq invasion possible. A no-fly zone over the Straights of Hormuz would be equally well supported by the current Congressional (non)opposition, and probably Obama. Such an event needs a catalyst.

The most uncertain and volatile problem in the region is not Iran or Iraq, but the Kurdish separtists. Turkey and Iran have been conducting joint operations against the rebels. The Bush people need to act before the Kurds (sworn enemies of the Bush administration) precipitate a crisis which opens up a hot spot. There is a sizable amount of oil at stake. Ultimately someone else will use gas against the Kurds, and we will back to square one. Certainly Kurdistan has all the potential that Chechnya has to create a new supply of terrorists.

Iran is using the same methods of obfuscation that North Korea used for years, confusion in translation, sending mixed messages, belligerence and compliance, used in arbitrary and capricious ways. North Korea shares a backdoor with China, which provided cover for their game of brinksmanship.

Perhaps the Russians have Irans' back, but more likely it's with a knife at the ready. What does Russia want? Everything, especially those Dick Cheney missiles removed from Eastern Europe's newly minted Nato countries.

Bush went into Iraq because he had more than a few good reasons; oil, Democracy, WMD's, terrorism. The domestic economy needed help at the time, the market rallied nicely from the start of hostilities. This may be one reason COngressional Democrats went along, Iraqi Freedomlooked like a pretty nice stimulus package.

Now some five years later, the urge to try it again has taken hold. Just playing at this won't get the job done, they need a real committment, trillions of dollars probably. And if Russian intelligence hands the Americans the keys to the Iranian weapon systems, like they did in that Syria raid, then this will look like Cakewalk II.

The Democrats must figure they can win anyway, even while the bombs hit Tehran, America will be pullin the lever for Obama. That's their lapse of judgement.

A war with Iran is innately rational. Primarily the social and religious demographics are uniform, and will collapse simultaneously. Once air power knocks out the power grid in Tehran, and we secure the Straights of Hormuz, the battle is essentially over.

It may at the peak resemble the Falklands campaign, with the same results. The underlying economy in Iran is far less able to absorb an attack, and a loss of oil revenue.

With oil at these high prices, losing those oil revenues are going to have an even great impact. A cutoff of oil hurts China more than it hurts the U.S. We still import most of our oil from Canada, and Mexico.

The price of oil to a great extent already reflects the beginning of hostilities. Six months after the initial attack, they will be starving in Tehran, and oil will be $100 a barrel. While such a move might be immoral, it is not irrational.

We're not mired in Iraq, we're in Iraq because we can't damn well invade Iran without the support bases, mostly aircraft. The litany of market bombings in Baghdad are a distraction, but they in no way impede our military mission. Initially this will be an air war. Then we secure the Persian Gulf, (can you hear America clapping, while they fill up their SUVS? Imagine B Wms meeting the first tanker in NY harbor with a load of crude...)

Then we bring political pressure to bear. When the world sees how badly off the Iranians are, well, they kick that old dog while he is down, so to speak. The UN helps, corrupt programs, food for oil, they compromise Iranian sovereignty. New friends like China sneak out the back door. (All we have is military power, our financial system is in ruins, so we better damn well use it or Impeach George Bush)

Did Russia and France complain with we invaded Iraq and canceled their lucrative oil contracts? Hell the French elected Zarchozy. The Germans aren't sure if Obama can speak at Berlin or not. I wouldn't want to be a Mullah about now.