I read this news story within 24 hours of it hitting the US press, in March of 2001.

I, distinctly, remember the time and the place.

I was stationed at Fort Sill, OK. We lived in Lawton, OK. I was sitting in my den, reading the news on the 'net after work.

My gut went into overdrive. I turned to my wife and said, "We are going to be at war with these guys within the next 12 months."

She asked me why. I had no solid response. Nothing factual. I just knew in my gut that these guys were crazy. Just crazy enough to pick a fight with who they perceived as the biggest kid on the block, the USA.

The rest is history ...

I say all of that to launch into Iran.

I got that gut feeling about Iran in 1979.

For those of you that do not remember, in 1979, Iran ... first through proxies, then through government forces, they stormed our embassy, kidnapped and held hostage our entire embassy staff, to include the Marine guard.

Now, after all that has happened to include this , and this, my gut has quit saying, "We are going to war with these guys soon."

Now my gut is saying, "GET ON WITH IT!"

Sidenote: At least, to the perception of people in the region, Iran is not Arab. According to history, they aren't either. Have you seen "The 300", or any of the History Channel documentaries on the same battle?

They are the Persians.

That is their geography, history, culture, and, in most cases, genealogy.

Russia has not been the "enemy" for about 18 years now.

I don't remember the exact date, but I remember where I was, and how I felt when I heard that Communism and the Berlin Wall fell.

I was in Basic Training at Fort Dix, NJ, in 1989.

While this article goes on to say that this was, probably, more aimed at Middle Eastern countries than the US, the explicit warning to the US cannot be ignored in this.

I'm not saying that Russia is the enemy, again, like in the Cold War.

What I am saying is that, just because someone (individual, group, or country) is not your enemy, doesn't make them your friend.

I don't get a real "warm fuzzy" feeling from this announcement. ... it's more of a cold, iron, curtain feeling.

In the late 60's, the anti-war movement used to ask "What if there was a war and no one came?"

Now, our Congress seems bent on living up to our end of that deal.

Sadly enough, the other side doesn't act like they got the memo. Which is odd. They seem to have all the other Democrat Party talking points down to a tee.

The Common Wisdom in the US seems to be that, if we give a timetable to get out of Iraq, al Quaeda will leave us alone. That, somehow, us invading Iraq in 2003 caused: a) the attack on the USS Cole in 2000, b) the attack on the Khobar Towers in 1995, c) the first bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993, and d) the attacks on September 11, 2001 ... among others. AND, if we pull out of Iraq, they will leave us alone. Because, after all, we caused all of that by invading Iraq in 2003.

Apparently, Common Wisdom believes that the US government has mastered time travel.

So, now that Congress is pressuring the President for a pullout timetable, al Quaeda is threatening us with even worse than we have seen before.

Is is just me, or does Common Wisdom have feces for a cognitive thought organ?

Sidenote: is it interesting to you that this little video features a face and voice that is little known, and not Osama?

Actually, There are several:

Was Representative William Jefferson (D, LA) consulted in this story?

Did he vote for this bill?

Whatever happened to the investigation into the huge wad of cash he had stashed in the freezer in his place in Washington, DC?