Rusted Sky

To a post at "The Adventures of Chester" called "Sinking Feeling". (and if you're wondering who "Chester" is, you can check out the mini-bio here, and it would seem like the gent is smarter than the average bear when it comes to intelligence analysis and historical comparisions. So when he gets a bit concerned about something, there's a good bet (IMHO) that there's actually a problem AND it'd be wise to start thinking about a solution.

He writes as an update to this post...

UPDATE: Many assume that Iran would not overtly use terror or the deterrent effects of its new nukes to its own gain in the immediate future, thinking instead that things would settle into a "cold war" of sorts.

This represents a best-case and is foolhardy for planning purposes. As usual in strategy, Iran's advantage rests in its ability to exploit seams; at the moment there is quite a transitional seam in Israeli politics and therefore policy. If there were plans on the drawing board for an Israeli strike, they are being shelved for sure. We are about to encounter another seam via the US election as well, wherein the entire Congress temporarily becomes entranced by domestic concerns and local politics.

If Iran declares itself a nuclear power, the institutions, systems, policies and governments of the region and the world will not just snap into a new paradigm of a "cold war" with Iran, though in the longer term, that is certainly probable. Instead, from the moment Iran makes the announcement, or detonates a bomb, a new seam begins between the old policy regimes and the new. And there lies Iran's advantage. Much hay can be made while the capitals of the west are engaged in debate on a response.

I'm calling it like I see it.

Plan for the worst. Hope for the best. And be aware ... that one has to make war, not as one would like to, but as one must. And in Iran's case, I think we're not far off from it.

The comments are cogent and insightful, and one really caught my eye. It was just a bit about Bush meeting with former Secretaries of Defense and State. Did a bit of searching, and found...

In bid to get varied opinions, Bush meets with old guard - The Boston Globe

WASHINGTON -- President Bush met with a dozen former secretaries of state and defense yesterday, including those who have openly criticized his Iraq policy, in what he described as an effort to solicit divergent opinions on the war.

The White House's first invitation to members of the old guard, ranging from two Vietnam-era Pentagon chiefs to the war Cabinets of Bush's father and Bill Clinton, marked a rare instance of the president seeking input on national security matters from people outside his tight-knit inner circle.

The participants, representing much of the US foreign policy and military hierarchy of the past 40 years, urged Bush to be more frank with the American public and as one put it, told him ''some things he did not like."

That's ... odd.

Why now? BTW, Secretary Rice cut short her visit overseas.

J.