If things continue as they are Israel most likely will hit Iran before the end of the year. If it happens I suspect WWIII will have just started.

replacing the word "Iran" in the article with "Israel" or "America" makes for an interesting read.

Condi Rice's remaining government career: six months and counting.

"Probably right after McCain gets his butt whupped in the first debate, I would guess."

Jack, apparently you didn't watch any of the debates during the primaries. If Obama 'whips butt' in a debate, it will be a first. The man is gifted reading off a teleprompter. Without one....not so much.

I think the betting houses have the odds of a military strike at Iran this year at less than 50%. Last I heard it was 30% or so. Israel needs U.S permission to use Iraqi airspace, and needs a way to refuel mid-air for multiple bombing missions. If the U.S is going to be this involved, it just as well do the bombing itself. Yet the U.S needs Iran to keep Iraq violence down. The U.S is actually in a containment position currently with its position in Iraq, albeit extremely costly one. Even NoBama realizes this as he has hinted at letting conditions on the ground dictate withdrawal. This doesn't mean the U.S and Iran aren't testing each other with covert operations, something similar to the Soviet Union U.S. cold war tactics.

You are also seeing some other dynamics play out as Israel and Syria are making nice, and the Saudis pump money into Syria, potentially weakening the Syrian-Iranian alliance. This is making Hezbollah, Iran's pawn, nervous.

I do have to admit it sure is costly to repeat the same mis-adventure the British had when it invaded what is now Iraq back in the early parts of the 20th century. History lessons should be right up there with the three Rs when we go through school.

China provided Iran with the missiles they are testing right now. They are advanced and very destructive.

Having said that, China will do everything they can to ensure NOTHING overshadows their little coming out party in August (i.e. Olympics). So imagine the Chinese and the Iranians have had some interesting discussions as of late.

After the Olympics are over...all bets are off and I expect to see China's (and Iran's) attitudes change for the worse.

As an aside...Iran signed the Nuclear Arms Proliferation Treaty and as such are entitled to enrich uranium to 1.3% which is nuclear reactor (not weapons grade). So to say Iran is enriching uranium is misleading without knowing the technical details.

Butch is right. Just listen to Obama's comments about learning a 2nd language. I don't mean the content of his speaking. Listen to how he speaks. Obama, without a teleprompter, makes George Bush sound good eloquent.

Exactly. The difference between natural Uranium (less than 1% U235, 99% U238), reactor grade Uranium (less than 5% U235, 95% U238) and weapons grade Uranium (greater than 20% U235) is lost on the public, because it doesn't get reported by the media.

Oh, don't worry about those pesky isotopic details when talking about nuclear physics!

The story doesn't end there though. Only enriching to 20% U235 gets you the bare minimum for a criticality, and that means just the physics package of the weapon would weigh in at over 400 kg for the Uranium alone, much less the neutron reflector (usually Tungsten, or something equally dense), polonium trigger, explosive lenses, bomb casing (inch-thick steel), etc., and even then, it's horribly inefficient and would have the bare minimum of yield. For example, the bomb dropped on Hiroshima had 64 kg of Uranium at classified enrichment levels (from mass alone, we know it was over 90%), and it is estimated that only 0.7 kg actually fissioned, and of that, 6 grams was released as energetic particles.

There's a reason every member of the "nuclear club" uses Plutonium 239 for this work. Uranium is much better used for making electricity.

I thought that last year Seymour Hersh reported in the New Yorker that the war with Iran was scheduled for September 2008. I'd say that is a good bet.

Iran doesn't need to attack anybody - all they need is to be able to loft a bomb into the atmosphere in order to generate an EMP.

The radical Shiite regime has conducted successful tests to determine if its Shahab-3 ballistic missiles, capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, can be detonated by a remote-control device while still in high-altitude flight, Graham said in his report.

The man is gifted reading off a teleprompter. Without one....not so much.

He will whup. McCain's. Butt.

Not that will be necessary. Phil Gramm -- too funny.

Thinking outside the McBush Box, the deep 'inside baseball' politickers are saying McCain ain't gonna go the distance, there's a reliever warming up in an 'undisclosed location' outside the glare of publicity, ready to run to the mound when McBush does the no-show the inning before the start of the GOP Convention.

Here's the link, the named 'analysts' are sharp dudes, but somewhat mixed 'prediction percentage,' batting like, oh, .700 or .800, say. (Whether .700 is a high or low prediction accuracy rate ... is another matter, another time.) The thinking is spelled out, judge for yourself: McCain's Nomination - A Possible September Surprise?, by Stephen Lendman, Global Research, July 11, 2008.

Presumptive nominee John McCain may not be as certain as most people think, and why so should be asked.

Steve Rosenbaum ... thinks around mid-August, he [McCain] and/or the party will decide he can't win, but he'll cite health or another excuse for dropping out. True or not, he looks bumbling and uncertain on stage and at times like he's about "to keel over."

... a fresh new face, but a well-known conservative one or at least conservative enough. The possibilities range from Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell to Michael Bloomberg, Chuck Hagel and Richard Lugar with a host of others as well - all without McCain's baggage. Can it happen? Why not, according to Rosenbaum, and he's not alone thinking it. ...