Nothing Shocking

But it's interesting nonetheless that Scott Ritter is saying that the US manipulated the election results in Iraq and that Bush has "signed off" on a plan to bomb Iran. Given the history of these sorts of things, I find the election fixing to be no big surprise. This election only happened because Sistani wanted it, the Americans wanted to go with a complex caucus system to choose the government. Such caucuses would no doubt have been far easier to manipulate, but the idea that elections can't be fixed surely only dwells in the hearts of naive school children. Given this administration's track record, I find the idea that they'd attempt something like this entirely in their character.

The other part of this story is also unsuprising. Bush bombing Iran fits his shoot-first mentality and he has forces already in the region. I think that the US would have little trouble hitting Iran. Whether they hit nuclear facilities or just civilian collateral is another question. Most ominous though is the consideration of what Iran would do - if anything - in retaliation. Even if they don't have a nuke, they certainly have the capacity to cause a lot of trouble if they want. Moreover, I want to remind readers of my opinion that Iran, if left alone by the Americans, will most likely continue to reform in a moderate direction. The best way to put the hardliners in charge in Iran is through external threats. The more that the Americans are perceived as an immediate threat, the more Iranians are likely to cleave to the hardliners.