We were wrong on Iraq , Iran is and has been trouble for a long time ( remember the Marine Barracks )
their support for Terrorists now and in the past is
well documented . I think a very simple statement needs to be made ie. if you develop a Nuke Weapon we
will visit you with at least one of our own,if you develop nuclear energy for domestic use we applaud
your efforts. Everyone needs to understand that Weapons of this type need to be controlled period.

I have never had the mistrust of a president as I do with GW. Today was just what I expected, divert the attention from all the other blunders and get involved with IRAN. The spin has started to go after IRAN now. I really hope the majority of Americans do not fall for this presidents lies again. I sure would to know what drives his supporters.

I hear the same sort of talk now as was heard before the U.S. attacked Iraq. I bet that the U.S. attacks Iran within the next 4 months (6 months at most).

Although Bush is right in saying some components of IEDs are coming from Iran, I know from first hand experience that many more come from such mainstream manufacturers as Motorola and Samsung. I agree with Clifford from Searcy, this is the first of what will be many attempts to drag Iran into this conflict and justify military action.

Wow,so much doom and gloom on this Blog!Is it possible that this administration has done anything RIGHT!!! Of course they have! Have mistakes been made? Yes, but show me one war that mistakes were not made!!! Maybe we should stop with all the DOOM AND GLOOM and talk about all the POSITIVES as well!!!

Here we go again.

The same steps, different country. Start by warning Iran that they are going to be held responsible for their actions (all of a sudden - what's the rush after igroring them for so long?). Then start connecting Iran with supplying pieces or parts of the explosive devices being used in Iraq (even though the average American can never verify whether this information is true or propped or exaggerated). Provide justification to attach Iran (because they are the bad guys now). Take the attention off of Iraq day-to-day (start another conflict in the world while all along ignoring the plight of the poor & needy US citizens here at home).

If this doesn't sound like SOP (standard operating procedure) for this administration - How many tons of bricks have got to hit your head THIS TIME?

Do you think the Bushies are intelligent enough to figure out that the best course is to let the Euros do the negotiating (carrot) and let the US be the muscle (stick)? Do you really think this might be an admission of policy failure in Iraq? I don't dare raise my hopes....

History is a great teacher. The entire Middle East situation from 9/11 on is a repeat of the Crusades. Both sides sceamed for revenge and called for a great cause. All this perpetrated by the lies of leaders, of both sides. Religion has nothing to do with it. The illusions of power and wealth do, at least, for the lying leaders on both sides.

Bush is already set the justification for this possible as he's lost the justification for the current war.

The sure sign of a real loser is one that doesn't realize he lost. The war was lost from the git-go, when this ignorant administration didn't plan correctly, and adding insult to injury, fired all those that did know.
Bush can tout all over America about support for his illegal war. No one pays him much mind anymore. He really needs to admit to his drastic mistakes and try to ammend some of them. Blamaing others for this innept administration is really getting old.

After all the mishaps in the last 3 years, the Dems better be able to recover from the 1994 onslaught. If not, I give up on America and the American people.

This has always been the danger; getting sucked into an intractable, yes, Vietnam type conflict, weakening our strength, confusing us as to which enemy we have to fight, and then encouraging Iran and other nations to feel empowered to act as they will because we're stretched thin...if Bush wants to be a war president as he says he is, we'd all better end the tax cuts and man-up...it'll take a lot more than we've been putting out...Let's hope it doesn't come to that...

Smoke and mirrors! Iran is more of a distraction than an actual policy issue. Bush is so mired in Iraq that deployment of both men and material for an Iranian incursion is almost prohibitive. Try as he may, Bush cannot assuage the Europeans to assist him beyond diplomacy an art which Bush is completely ignorant of!

The problem of Iran isn't really one of weapons, it's one of ideologies. Their faith in Allah is ruling their social and political decision making process. They believe Allah will protect them in the face of the "great Satan"(the usa. The fact that George Bush follows the same path of believing that God is looking out for us doesn't do anything to help the situation. He's no different than the mullahs and by consequence we're no different than the iranians. We've allowed ourselves to be lead by an irrational buffoon and now we have to suffer the consequences of re-electing him to a second term. Nothing will change for the world unless we replace faith with reason. God will not save us from the problems we've created for ourselves. Only good and rational decision making can.

Re George's post: "While it's true that perhaps a lot of the problems the world faces now from Islamic terrorists would have been avoided had Carter had the courage to go in and stomp the life out of Ayatollah Khomeini and the terrorist regime in Iran.."

He failed to mention Saint Ronald Reagan's weapons sales and personal gifts to the Ayotollah. Does George believe those helped?

As a Political Science graduate, I find it very difficult to think that out leaders really believe that we can change a society that used regligious text as law into a democracy. I think we're really screwed this one up and by making the historical blunder of attacking Iraq, we have weakened our military strength and moral character to the point that we will find it difficult to address the more urgent situation in Iran. Who will want to follow this administration again?

Now President Bush is saying Iran is responsible for IED'S. Why should we believe him now after lies about WMD, Wiretapping, knowing lobbyist Abramhoff and the list goes on. It is time to present a case for impeachment against this president. He has become not a leader of the USA, but a leader of a minority faction of supporters. I would love to be able to support my President but his conduct has become unconscionable.

I'm about as hardcore as anyone on Iran; I see Iran standing in the same place Hitler's Germany stood while fooling Neville Chamerlain in the '30's, out to fool the world as long as they can before they have the ability to strike. Then the mask is thrown down...BUT...Bush has lost so much credibility on pointing fingers at "Evildoers" that he'd better hope the U.N. he and Bolton malign so much can resist our "friends" Russia and China (remember how doe-eyed Bush was about Putin his first term?) keeping them from imposing sanctions. Given the way the world has learned to not trust Bush, diplomacy is our only tool against an increasingly scary Iran.

Enough of trying to control the whole world. The money and effort would be better spent to improve life in the United States. Bush is looking for any reason to attack Iran. Seems to me his father played a role in the Iran Contra affair and the Bush family would probably benefit again financially if a war was to take place. No more war!!!

Watch out! This may be the first step in trying to justify air strikes on Iran.

"I recall as a child wondering why we did not ever just 'go teach those radicals and terrorist sponsoring governments a lesson'..."

Well, that pretty much tells the tale of how we're mired in this senseless and failed policy -- it's more or less founded on a child's mentality.

While it's true that perhaps a lot of the problems the world faces now from Islamic terrorists would have been avoided had Carter had the courage to go in and stomp the life out of Ayatollah Khomeini and the terrorist regime in Iran, we can't be fooled into belieiving that Bush's war on Iraq was actually a confrontation with terrorism as much as it was settling a personal vendetta with a weakened, two bit dictator named Sadaam Husseign. As bad as things were going for the Iraqi people under Sadaam, there were--and still are--worse things happening to people in places North Korea and the Sudan, so spare me this BS about Bush "liberating 25 million people." We went in, supposedly, because of WMDS...not to "liberate" anyone!

compare the cost and effort to the wars we've previously fought and won/lost...comparitively speaking we are doing a fine job and it is as nobel a cause as any.

I recall as a child wondering why we did not ever just "go teach those radicals and terrorist sponsoring governments a lesson"...glad we finally found the *&^%$ to confront them.

Steve Cranston

Now Bush & his administration are honing in on Iran as a target. Let us not fall for his lies again. We cannot afford another war.

In fact, we don't have to even worry about Iran giving explosives and weapons to the insurgents. Our incompetent government has already provided expolsives to the insuregents.

On October 24, 2004 it was reported by CNN that:

"Some 380 tons of explosives powerful enough to detonate nuclear warheads are missing from a former Iraqi military facility that was supposed to be under American control, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency says...

A European diplomat told The New York Times that Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the IAEA, is "extremely concerned" about the potentially "devastating consequences" of the vanished stockpile.

"The immediate danger" of the lost stockpiles is its potential use by insurgents to make small, but powerful, bombs, an expert told the Times. The expert said the explosives could be transported easily across the Middle East."

I pray for the safety of our country, our soldiers, and our children's future every day. I am so worried about our future becuase I have zilch confidence in Bush and his advisers' competency or brains. Don't let them take us into Iran!!!

I am so glad this administration finally realizes IED's are a threat! It took only 2 years to realize our troops needed extra armor,then a quick year later to award contracts to create that armor. As fast as they are to adapt to WAR, we may see improvements in the next 2-3 years! They are an impressive lot!

What no-one seems to want to mention is that the material for the IEDs comes from the many tons of RDX that our army idly watched being looted at the end of the war. Every American soldier and every Iraqi who falls victim to an IED has Donald Rumsfeld to thank. Let's not blame Iran, folks, let's blame the Bush administration who, deliberately or not, has done everything possible to create the situation we are experiencing today.