Okay, gentlemen, that is the essential difference in our positions, and that's why we disagree.

You see the Iranians as insane enough to commit national suicide just to get Israel, and I don't.

I think the presumption of their insanity is simple the convenient propaganda excuse to do exactly what the USA and Israel have been wanting to do, regardless...which is destroy Iran as a regional power in the Middle East. If Iran can be provoked into making violent statements, so much the better for the USA and Israel.

It's a political game. The same game we've seen before, and we'll see it again.

Step 1: Define a country in a strategic area as "evil" (in its intentions and nature).

Step 2: Focus on its leader. Decide that he is "as bad as Hitler". Scare everyone with this terrible boogyman leader who is a threat to the whole world! (not)

Step 3: Threaten to take action against that country if it doesn't knuckle under and surrender to all our demands. (which it obviously won't)

Step 4: Take it to the U.N. (to make it look good)

Step 5: Keep scary stories going in the media all about it. (to get people ready for war)

Step 6: The U.N. may not decide to go all the way with you on this. If that happens, just do it anyway, and pretend you have their approval even though you don't. (Coz who really gives a shit about the U.N.? They're a joke, right?)

Step 7: Send in the bombers and cruise missiles. (Yippee! Now I feel such a sense of relief. Nothing like blowing things up to relieve that sense of frustration and moral drift.)

And that's just the beginning of a bigger and even worse festering mess than the present mess we are dealing with in Iraq and Afghanistan...

Note: the above 7 steps need not necessarily be in that exact order...but just approximately.

This is all contingent on one important matter. The country attacked must be incapable of seriously threatening the USA or Israel.