Darned right the Iranians would come over the border into Iraq if they were attacked, Ron! That's why Mr Bush refuses to "take the nuclear option off the table". In other words, he is quite willing to initiate a first use of tactical nuclear weapons on the battlefield and use them to kill one hell of a lot of Iranians. He has made that pretty clear. He probably assumes that the use of such weapons could stop any Iranian ground offensive in its tracks. I'm not entirely sure that it would, but I think that is what he believes. He also appears to believe that he has the right to do it, and that he can get away with it.

That there are other simply horrendous matters to consider if he were so reckless and irresponsible as to use nuclear weapons is, of course, a whole further issue, and Scott Ritter has made quite a bit of reference to it, as have others.

These are simply hypotheticals. I'm not saying you are WRONG about anything you have said, Ron, I'm simply discussing various possibilities. They are possibilities that have occurred to people far closer to the matter than you and I.

Now here is a very interesting talk given by Scott Ritter shortly before Bush's 2003 attack on Iraq...very interesting in hindsight, and quite prophetic as to what some of the results of an illegal war of aggression on Iraq might be too.

"Weapons of Mass Delusion"

Bush has made it clear again and again that he is "the decider" and that he doesn't care what anyone else thinks about his decisions. He is a type of purblind zealot, in my opinion, not a practical politician, and such people are capable of anything, given the power. Then there's Cheney, and I think he's even more dangerous in that respect than Bush will ever be.

Some of Iran's further reactions, aside from a major ground attack on Iraq, would be: determined air and missile attacks on the US Navy in the Gulf, determined attempts to stop seaborne traffic in the Straits of Hormuz, and massive launches of conventional explosive type missiles on the American bases in Iraq, as well as other important strategic targets in the Gulf. The probable results?

1. Very serious losses of American personnel
2. Massive American counter-response, probably including tactical nukes
3. Other states in the region being rapidly drawn into the conflict
4. And a rather likely eventual slide into a genuine Third World War with some other more important and much bigger participants entering the conflict in due course of time...and not on the American side.

Do I think Bush is crazy enough to make these mistakes? Yes, quite possibly. I think there's a good chance of him being that crazy. I don't know it is so. What I know is more like...that I am here in Ontario, sitting at my keyboard, and typing a message....

In other words, I KNOW about as much as what most people know. ;-) And I try and figure out what's going on like everyone else does...as best I can.

Both logic AND gut feeling play a part in everyone's analysis of the situation, Ron, and there's nothing wrong with that. It's how all human beings naturally deal with situations. They consult their head, their heart, and their gut feelings. And so they should.