Is Iran Next?

The fact that Sy Hersh has incredible sources in the Pentagon and the intelligence community is a reflection of the strong disagreements that SecDef Donald Rumsfeld and his Pentagon crew evoke. This New Yorker article reveals that top-level administration officials, including the Vice President, but especially the civilian leadership cadre in the Pentagon, is champing at the bit to hit Iran. Of course, this might be part of an elaborate ruse to convince Iran that the U.S. is the bad cop to the European good cop. Nonetheless, given the evidence of the stunning miscalculations in Iraq, it is hard to dismiss Hersh's reporting to the effect that they actually believe they can topple the Iranian regime without unifying the Iranians against the U.S. Yes, the clerical regime is unpopular in Iran, but will that unpopularity trump nationalism and national memory? This is not simply risky but, if the report is correct, it is an example of a strategic path that is both ahistorical and very, very foolish.