That might be a bias for providing some balance vs. the bias of the elite news media for providing NO balance.

Roy,
I’m not sure about this. I can’t help but think of what happened with Saddam in Iraq with Desert Storm — we didn’t finish the job, left him in place, yet he didn’t get the message, and we know the rest. The mullahgiac (a word? now it is. sounds rather like a medical condition…..) regime in Iran is in a much more desperate situation to begin with than Saddam ever was. If we leave them with some capabilities (and here I take you to mean nuclear facilities? – i.e., we don’t have to destroy all of the nuclear facilities), I think they will only begin again with renewed determination — simply because they see it as their only way out of their various dilemmas.

Is this the only possible outcome? Of course not. The actual course of events could take any one of a gazillion different branchings, depending, in part, upon what strategic targets were hit. The Iranian economy would likely crash (sadly harming the people, not the regime), or ideally the regime might fall (maybe….but the guys with the guns tend to win, especially since, in Iran, they are not at all hesitant about using them, brutally), their neighbors might invade (but does Iraq or Saudi Arabia really want such an all out adventure? Hardly. Israel surely would not.), and then there’s Hizbollah and Hamas, who, were they to get their hands on any shards of the nuclear capabilities left over in Iran, would not hesitate to use them for maximum destruction.

And on, and on. In the best of all possible, enlightened worlds, we would not have to contemplate such a dreadful array of choices and possible outcomes. Perhaps we’re closer to that happy condition than can be ascertained from current events. Perhaps Mr. Solana’s persistence will be rewarded. Perhaps the mullahs will see the light, have a change of heart, give up their quest for nukes, and go for peace. From my lips to her ear…..

It is not necessary to destroy all of Iran’s capabilities. The very act carries the message that enough is enough and the next time we will make very, very sure.

Regards,
Roy

Will these obvious preparations finally wake the mullahs up and convince them to make a deal? I just don’t think we’re dealing with people susceptible to reason. They are at the nexus of some very difficult and powerful imperatives: their demographics are in the process of doing them in, their economy is almost in a state of hyper-inflation and getting ready to go down the tubes, corruption seems to be the main business of government, and then there’s the whole apocalyptic Mahdi ideology which is a living reality (alright, alternate reality, why should the West have the corner on the delusion market!) for large numbers of those in control of the government and country.

So, what are their choices? Wait for the oil to run out, wait for the economy to explode and face more and more internal unrest, wait for the demographic bomb to finish their chances? I think they see their nuclear bomb program as their one chance to survive and thrive again, for with it they will be able to call the tune not only in the region (and gain control of all the oil), but also in the West which needs that oil for its economies to function. Ironically, theirs is an imperialistic solution. The European Union’s foreign policy expert, Javier Solana, has been wearing a track in the Persian carpets in Tehran for low these last six (?) years offering ever more appeasement goodies, only to be rebuffed once he’s finished his tea. Add to this the sorry performance of our State Department in dealing with Kim and North Korea, and Ahmadinejad has every reason to conclude that once he gets nuclear weapons, he can write his own ticket with the West. In their desperate straits, I don’t think they will ever give up nuclear weapons development.

The question of whether, once they have nuclear weapons, they would make good on their constant threats and declarations and actually launch those weapons at Israel is the most important question of all. The last time a world leader and his ruling class were so infused with anti-semitic hate everybody sat on their hands and did nothing, or worse. Are we going to sit patiently and say nothing now, while the amnesiac fools who seem still to make up our governing elites chatter, appease, and do nothing? Time is running out.
Dick:
Barry will, for sure, be staring off into the distance at some delusional goal. Ahmadinejad will have already reached his all too real goal — he’ll have his nukes in his hip pocket by then.

The Burns trip could possibly be construed as a demonstration to our allies that the current process is at a dead end. This depends upon what was said prior to the meeting. If there were indications to the Iranians that this was something of a last chance or the Iranians hinted that they were ready to deal then the event was of some portent.

Mostly though, it is Israel that will act. They cannot trust Obama to “have their back” if he is elected, and they certainly can’t afford to let Iran perfect their nukes. As with Iraq in the 80′s, and Syria just recently, they will set the Iranians back at least five years out of self-preservation. Everybody will howl about it for awhile, but most states, particularly Middle Eastern ones that aren’t Iranian puppets, will privately heave profound sighs of relief.