We are getting into a dangerous cycle as an unpopular President is making war the coin of the realm. Enemies are demonized with scant and misleading information for the purpose of going to war. Iran is another perfect villain and they play the central casting role to a T with their equally exagerated talk and gaggles of Mullahs walking before the cameras of our ignorant nation.
Bush was languishing as a President until the attacks of 9/11. We should not forget that. Our success in banishing the Taliban created his sense of purpose and also the attitude that we could impose our will on other countries at a very low cost in lives and money because of our technology and our new strategy of using a smaller and different mix of troop on the battlefield. Both these assumptions were seriously contardicted in our adventure in Iraq but the WH is not finished with its Freedom Wars*. This is not stopping the WH from making Iran an immediate threat.
An attack on Iran can certainly become some form of "Wag the Camel" gambit as the pathetic approval (disapproval ?) polls for the President are still dropping as we turn our attention to the midterm elections. There is pressure building from Republican legislators to do something about Iraq which is the major millstone around their necks. With the formation of the newly elected Iraqi govenment still in question almost four months after the elections there seems little chance for a major withdrawl of troops to show progress. The level of violence is too intense and an overthrow of the government still a very real possibility at the moment.
The Pentagon and the country have no stomach for two Iraqs but both might countenance an aerial attack that might involve mainly bombing as Mr. Hersh outlined in his latest New Yorker article. During the immediate aftermath, and for months afterward as the repecussions of such an attack become known, the President would recieve tremendous public support and he could again rehabilitate the picture of a potential nuclear attack on the US as the rationale for the new war. The midterms would be taken care of without much work if the attack on Iran was coordinated in close enough proximity to election while patriotic fervor was still gripping the MSM.
We are living in dangerous times and the long term repercussions of the Iraq War are not known but with an attack on Iran the fear of potential new terrorism threats as a result would envelope our domestic discussions and even one attack on our country or interests would embolden the administration to further take power domestically from a recumbent Congress and a silent or pliant Supreme Court.
The military option is clearly on the table for many reasons and the war planning is active. We should be worried for the people of Iran and for what it might mean for our nation.
*Freedom Wars (must TM before Grover Norquist gets his mitts on it and we can't even say it :) )