Unstable

Juan Cole has a good article in Salon today regarding how well Iran has done from the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and how poorly we've done.

That doesn't bother me half as much, though, as the July 22nd article in the American Conservative mentioned by Billmon:

The Pentagon, acting under instructions from Vice President Dick Cheney's office, has tasked the United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM) with drawing up a contingency plan to be employed in response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States. The plan includes a large-scale air assault on Iran employing both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons.

So, we are apparently going to attack Iran with nukes, even unprovoked, maybe even if we have to stage an event to make it happen. And there would be a counterattack on us, wouldn't there be? Nice legacy from letting Bush invade Iraq!