My Thoughts Regarding Escalation of Iranian Threat 

I seem to recall President Bush addressing the nation following the attacks of 9/11 and declaring in no uncertain terms, that moving forward, the United States would make no distinction between the terrorists and those nations which harbor them. I'm pissed off because Iran called our government's bluff on this. A bluff containing words, at the time, I took interpreted as a declaration of a riled and powerful nation, and a very real threat to her enemies made in defense of the United States, I believed it, but this country's enemies did not. Naiveté on my part, I suppose. Daily it seems, Iran mocks our administration's dispersing the word "war" so casually. Hell, they're actively killing our troops in Iraq, they actually fighting us by-proxy RIGHT NOW!  What is the tough talking Bush administration doing? They’re leaking to the media vague details of “sort of” threatening secretive “strategic meetings.” Meetings may be being held.

A country at war should fight back. War means diplomacy was exhausted, foregone or simply cast off as an option for settling a dire conflict between two nations. The U.S. was quick to cry ‘war’ on all nations supporting, financing, sheltering or by any means enabling Al-Qaeda (or similar groups) operational survival. Here we are, six years later and Iran making a blatant mockery out of Bush's once loud-talk and chest thumping bravado in the months following 9/11. 

Some optimism does exist regarding Iran.

 In several accounts I've heard, read or seen in the mainstream media over the past year or so, pertaining to the a small collective of conservative Islamic clerics who actually run Iran, (forget Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he's little more than a mouth piece and, oddly, an enthusiast when it comes to constantly wearing identical khaki windbreakers) each outlet unanimously proclaims a strong disdain by the Iranian population for the severe, inflexible, governing Mullahs. These "Godly" men possess such a capacity for control; they even decide which hairstyles are permissible for men to sport around the streets of Tehran. Even Ahmadinejad is said to have approval ratings as low as our own president's current poll numbers. *At this point I’d like to point out that I am not of the "blame America first" mentality. I am not angry we went to war following 9/11; we had to, and in a big, but also in an affective way. What My outrage concerning our government, is they chose to devote so many resources, sacrifice so many lives in for amounts to a huge, chaotic, and debilitating expense.  Most importantly: in this war where so many brave and often achingly young people have been flown home aboard giant C-5 cargo jets, set for burial.. Lost forever.

The invasion of Iraq was a mistake of such magnitude, one finds it virtually impossible to overstate. 

Now, apart from the disturbing conditions in Iran. There's also significant reason for concern in Pakistan. Gen. Pervez Musharaf just stepped aside as leader of the Pakistani military, after utilizing the powers of that position to seize power in a bloodless coup. His grip and control on their military was precisely what afforded him the necessary capital to lead in the first place. Now he's an inane figure head. I believe this signifies a potentially awful, nightmarish scenario for the U.S., and the rest of the world. Anarchy in Pakistan has long been gestating and its time is coming due ….

 Soon, after Musharaff is forced from power, what semblance of order currently holding Pakistan in check will begin to rapidly decompose and incredible menace will begin to metastasize. Consider: Pakistan is the home of many surviving members of Al Qaeda, including, most likely Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda, COO, al-Zawahiri. Rabid anti-western sentiment is rampant in the regeion, worse still; they have a multitude of deployed nuclear weapons. It's going to be bad, very bad. Just wait.

Returning now to the topic of Iran. They truly doubt America's resolve to stop their burgeoning development of weaponized nuclear technology. I don't care what heated words Bush and others served up in the accompanying (& reproduced here) article entitled "Pentagon 'three-day blitz plan' for Iran." The Iranians are apparently playing a diplomatic game only they know the rules to. They seem to want to appease the US and world community by appearing to cooperate with the IAEA, while simultaneously and flagrantly committing acts of provocation, (i.e. thinly veiled anti-US activities. These behaviors are obviously contradictory). So, what are they doing? The most disturbing reason I've become aware of goes like this:  every member of Iran's religiously-preoccupied governing elite,  including President Ahmadinejad, are members of a small, but very real, sect of Islam which holds firm to some very disturbing beliefs. The sects’ believers foresee the destruction of Israel as the necessary catalyst for bringing about a majestic “twelfth prophet.” He’ll be sent straight on down, directly from Allah, to earth. The final installment at the end of a long lineage if Islamic prophets, he’s the one – they believe- who symbolizes the ending for mankind. The belief they hold is this person will be "perfect," and will guide the world through implantation of strict Islamic code, and as per usual in religious constructs, paradise, of course, will replace our current existence.
So, in closing, a brief overview of ruling Iranian government officials and the madness they subscribe to as reported by members directly to various media outlets: 1) Believe Israel is evil and must be wiped off the map, as soon as possible2) As always, America is considered Zionist and an Israeli-collaborator.        Iranian leadership often refers to the US as  the "the Great Satan," populated with a people lacking the courage to dare confront them - most recently evidenced by their brazen assistance in the killing of American troops in Iraq. 3) Their fanatical, ignorant, leaders urgently invite the end of the world through nuclear exchange with Israel and her allies, thus delivering their highly anticipated, latest edition (and I suppose completely updated), Muslim prophet. 4) Officially they deny the holocaust even occurred. 5) Repeatedly lie to the United Nations regarding an ever accelerating program aimed at quickly becoming a nuclear power. Iran also disputes they’re mass producing weapons, which I believe our government is endless intelligence disputing the claim. Their government has proven to be consistently dishonest, based on what can be verified through satellite images and signal-intelligence. Their religious preoccupation blinds them, but it's their future designs for our world that make them deeply sinister. 
The Circumstances could scarcely be worse,