Bracing for "Shock & Awe II" in the Old West

[Subdivisions]

The scenario developing with regard to Iran reminds me of the American Old West. The United States stars as the big man dressed head-to-toe in black and wearing spurs that jingle as he steps to the middle of the street. Iran is the over-confident challenger that aims to make a name for himself by taking on the famous gunslinger. In the background of the scene, folks can be seen scattering out of the way of the bullets that are sure to be about to fly. And so it is thus in Iran at this very point in time.

Even as all watch the big gunslinger walk into the street, the Iranian challenger continues to boast, refusing to cower in the shadow of the quick-draw artist.

Mullahs' envoy: Iran not to give up the right

Iran will not give up its right to enrich uranium despite a growing pressure on it, Mullahs' envoy to Russia Gholamreza Ansari said on Thursday. "We are not going to give up our legitimate right to enrich uranium... Work will continue despite a growing foreign pressure," Ansari was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying. The UN Security Council, which is currently holding consultations on a new resolution on Iran, "may adopt a tougher than in December stance, but this will change nothing," Ansari said.

http://www.iranian.ws/iran_news/publish/article_21099.shtml">http://www.iranian.ws/iran_news/publish/article_21099.shtml

And...

Iran threatens 'illegal' nuke work

Iran's top leader also issued a stark warning to the United States, saying Iran will "use all its capacities to strike" its enemies if his country is attacked.

"If they want to treat us with threats and enforcement of coercion and violence, undoubtedly they must know that the Iranian nation and authorities will use all their capacities to strike enemies that attack," Khamenei told the nation in an address marking the first day of Nowruz, or the Persian New Year.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/03/21/iran.nuclear.ap/index.html">http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/03/21/iran.nuclear.ap/index.html

The townsfolk scurrying out of the way are the Russians.

Russian nuclear experts leave Iran

Some Russian specialists who came to Iran to build the Bushehr nuclear power plant in the country’s south are starting to leave the Islamic Republic, the Russian nuclear power agency said Tuesday.

“We have registered an outflow of specialists from Iran, and some subcontractors are refusing to supply equipment for the NPP,” press secretary Sergei Novikov said.


http://www.tltnews.net/2007/03/14/russian-nuclear-experts-leave-iran">http://www.tltnews.net/2007/03/14/russian-nuclear-experts-leave-iran

Russian experts leaving Iranian nuclear site

VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- Russia is pulling out its experts from the Iranian nuclear reactor site they were helping build, U.S. and European government representatives said today. The move reflects a growing rift between Iran and Russia that could lead to harsher U.N. sanctions on the Islamic republic for its refusal to stop uranium enrichment.

http://www.washtimes.com/world/20070320-121725-3123r.htm">http://www.washtimes.com/world/20070320-121725-3123r.htm

Speculation is rampant that Iran nuclear facilities will be the first to be attacked. Apparently the Russians are taking the threat serious enough to scurry for the safety of the saloon.

But does the brave challenger perhaps have an unseen ally just inside a nearby window above the street?

Now the Saudis tool up for war

-snip-

What the American authorities are reluctant to admit, however, is that there are signs that the Sunnis of Saudi Arabia and their allies - including Jordan - have been equipping and training Sunni extremists in Iraq for some time now. Critically, not all the weaponry and munitions have been used against the militants' Shia and Kurdish Iraqi enemies. Some of them - including lethal roadside bombs - have been aimed at US forces.

"The growth of the official and unofficial Saudi and Jordanian support for the militants is one of the most worrying developments," a senior British officer has told me privately after a visit to Iraq.

-snip-

http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/index.php?menuID=1&subID=1147">http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/index.php?menuID=1&subID=1147

And in the ensuing chaos, will other scores rise to the surface?

Turkey Prepares To Invade Iraq To Contain US-Backed Kurdish Push For Independent State

Media reports from Turkey appear to confirm weeks of rumours that Turkey is moving forward with its long-planned invasion of Northern Iraq. The Turkish Military, by far the most powerful in the Middle East, has cancelled all leave and has moved "additional forces" up to Iraq's northern border. The target of the presumed invasion will be the 'outlawed' PKK, otherwise known as the Kurdistan Workers Party.

http://the4thworldwar.blogspot.com/2007/03/turkey-prepares-to-invade-iraq-to.html">http://the4thworldwar.blogspot.com/2007/03/turkey-prepares-to-invade-iraq-to.html

Now that the entire town has gone ape-shit and everyone with a grudge is shooting at each other, we may as well throw in Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Russian and China into the mix.

Those of us in the sane world have, I fear, no choice but to hold on tight to this stagecoach as it caroms wildly down the road to oblivion.

Edited to add: Consider that the next full moon over Iran will be on the night of April 17. Will this be the date of Shock & Awe II?