McCain is not going to win in November if the USA is not at war at that time. Therefore the US will be at war with Iran in November - if only to make Obama look like a naive appeaser without military experience or proper patriotic credentials.
War with Iran will not end without full scale conflict, ir oil embargo, $2000 barrel and nuclear strikes. I don't see it happening. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
This has nothing to do with actual military preparedness or any rational analysis of what is to be gained/lost in the longer term. All that matters is what happens in November - after that the EU/UN can take over to clear up the mess. Do you think Bush cares about the long term consequences? "It's a mystery to me - the game commences, For the usual fee - plus expenses, Confidential information - it's in my diary..."
Patriotism in the US at the moment seems to be deep as a puddle. A bit of flag waving, a bit of posturing, a bit of shouting at liberals and - hey presto - you're a patriot.
When war means real sacrifice and real hardship - which a war with Iran would, in the form of even more body bags and even higher gas prices - the appetite for aggression is going fade quickly.
So it would take at least another 9/11 on US soil to make a difference. And so many people are so cynical about 9/11 already that they're just as likely to blame Bush for not protecting them as they are to vote for a militarist noob.
McCain is already taking a beating as a Bush surrogate, when his campaign has barely started. A few months from now it will be too late to break that association.
Even losing a city wouldn't do it. And I'm not sure that Bush is really all that interested in continuing for another few years after suspending the Constitution for security reasons.
I suppose Cheney might decide to nuke Washington and declare himself emperor in chief once the pesky government has been removed, but I don't think even Cheney is insane enough to do that.
you are the media you consume.
It doesn't have to be a full scale war - even the appearance of war will do to polarise opinion in the US enough to make Obama unelectable.
I give up.
