...I'm sure the administration very much loves having the word put out that we are crazy enough to plan an attack. Now if they can get the Iranians to believe it. Of course, if they don't believe we will do it, this might make us actually have to go and do it.

I'm very afraid that the Bush administration is trying to play such a game here, pushing it to the edge in the belief that Iran will back down. But I'm not sure that Iran will. The lesson of Iraq was that backing down won't get you anything, it's just weakens your country in the face of the invasion that is already set to happen.

And there is a good change that the lesson is right. If the US does have plans to invade Iran, they are probably already set and Iran backing down now won't slow the invasion at all.

Jay