Here's my favorite Young Turk, Cenk Uygur, laying it out:
If you liked gas at three dollars a gallon, you'll love it at five dollars or more. If you liked fighting 26 million people in Iraq, you'll love fighting 68 million in Iran. If you liked turning Sunni Muslims against us, you'll love turning Sunni and Shiite Muslims against us. If you liked war in the Persian Gulf, you'll love war all over the Middle East.
Zbigniew Brzezinski concurs : Zbig was once accused of being a hawk and has even recently been counted, by some, as in the NeoCon camp.
But, Brzezinski is no fool - hence his recent LA Times op-ed :
Been there, done that
Talk of a U.S. strike on Iran is eerily reminiscent of the run-up to the Iraq war :
"...our choice is either to be stampeded into a reckless adventure profoundly damaging to long-term U.S. national interests or to become serious about giving negotiations with Iran a genuine chance. The mullahs were on the skids several years ago but were given a new burst of life by the intensifying confrontation with the United States. Our strategic goal, pursued by real negotiations and not by posturing, should be to separate Iranian nationalism from religious fundamentalism"
I've written a bit on this lately as well:
YT Op-Ed Proposed ethnic cleansing in Iraq
"Attack Iran!" train heads towards paralyzed left
dKos poll: Iran Attack FEAR beats COURAGE 2:1">
Sy Hersh: If US NUKES IRAN 'they'll respond'. THEN what ?...
Metafuture: Iran, Iraq, and Permanent War