I hope that I will have to eat a huge dish of steaming crow when the things I am about to write are proven wrong. Iran is getting the bomb. The E.U. knew they were getting jerked around. It is always a political plus in Europe to blindly go down the constant negotiation with no result path. When the mullah bomb is announced the E.U. will say “I am shocked and outraged, pen a nasty note in the U.N. calling Iran really, really, really bad and unfair, then yawn and go back to to buisness as usual. I beleive i heard Straw of the U.K. announce that any military option is a no go, and there is no way that the E.U. will risk trying any meaningful sanctions out of fear of a Iranian shut off of the fuel lines. “but iran can’t afford to go toe to toe in an economic war.” Sure they can. They will call a state of emergency, use the time to crack down on unwanted political opponents with the full knowledge that the west will back down in a few months. That’s the nice thing about having totalitarian options at your fingertips. Ruin your economy for a few years. No problem. Suffering is good for one’s character and they know that the west will start blaming themselves intead of these 12th century mindset fanatics.

‘Oh, the U.S. and Israel will handle it.” Not when they know that the bulk of the world will isolate them and use it to stah them in the back. These negotiations have been a joke from the start. they have just been a cover for the West’s cowardice and it’s not a matter of “how stupid” the Euro’s are, it’s how craven and impotent they have become. President bush will not go it alone with just Israel as a backup. Milosevic didn’t have the oil weapon to use and no matter what any Middle East gov. says they love the idea of a Mullah bomb and they especially love that this madman running Iran will use it and achieve the longest running wet dream of the region, the destruction of Israel.Israel gone, Iran crippled by the Israeli response, Praise Allah!
“Oh, that will never happen.” That would be spot on if you assume that the Iranians in charge have the same general mindset of most western nations. Guess what, they don’t. Irans two greatest desires, No Jews in the middle east, America crippled. Worries about a few million dead Persians. We got through the Iraq war, we will deal with this increase of pain. 3 or 4 generations of revolutionary religous restrictions will replace the dead of the biggest martyrdom operation ever planned and extra honor for the authors of the too long delayed Muslim revenge for the Crusades.

They are demonstrating to their populations that the only option left is “Bombing”.

He was pretty close to winning Iowa, and the Democratic nomination, and he would have been a stronger at the top of ticket than Kerry.

The thing is, if you’re going to say you’re a Southern populist, you ought to be able to win reelection to the Senate in your own state. I think Edwards ought to set his sights on the North Carolina governorship.

The real interesting question is what kind of foreign policy Mark Warner puts together. As someone who thinks the “do-anything-to-win Dems” will outnumber the “peace at all costs Dems” in 2008, I suspect that a Hillary-with-balls candidate is likely to be the nominee.

I hope that I am not misreading the signals but I’ve been seeing a “soft” drumbeat for a military solution to this for some time. Michael Ledeen’s call for “support of dissenters” is fine – but I don’t think that I would be such a dissenter under a regime that would cheerfully have not only me but my entire family killed without a second thought. Nor would I be satisfied with victory by dissenters who did not foreswear development of nuclear weapons. That would leave us with another Pakistan.

I see no reason to invade Iran. Destruction of their air defenses will leave them absolutely vulnerable to continued air strikes should the current regime be able to hang on after the nuclear threat is destroyed.

China remains a key in this effort – and the Bush visit to India can be viewed in those terms. China will not willingly risk its oil supplies but it may now be in a position of looking at two nations on its borders which are both strengthening ties with the US – its largest customer. There is no reason that India could not furnish the US as well as China does.

It’s an interesting chess board and the match has been well played. If the mullahs want to remain in power then the nuke program must go. Otherwise, both they and the nuke program must go.

I just wondered how long we would sit around waiting for the EU-3 to continue talking to these liars. Did they learn nothing from Saddam? Are we at war or not?

I hope you are right about Bush not leaving Iran to a successor.

I hope you are right. Little or no vision, much less backbone, exists on either side of the aisle. For the first time in something like 45 years, no sitting President or Vice President will be among the candidates in 2008. Anything can happen. My faith remains in the majority of Americans to get it right.

Barrett