Source:
The GuardianSimon TisdallIran is safe ... for nowDespite the bluster, there is no serious prospect of an American
or Israeli military attack on Iran this year.
May 16, 2007 2:30 PM
Shadow-boxing over Iran, pitting hard-right American neo-cons
against European liberal progressives, is obscuring a reality neither
camp cares to acknowledge: the threat of a US or Israeli military
attack on Iran this year has receded to the point of invisibility.
Those in Europe who believe otherwise fail to understand the extent
of the political paralysis now gripping the Bush administration in
Washington. This is mostly but not entirely a consequence of the
Iraq quagmire. Although technically George Bush still gives the
orders, nobody - especially in Baghdad - is really listening any more.
The question that matters, for Congress, for the 2008 presidential
candidates, and for a vast majority of the American public, is when
will the troop drawdown/withdrawal/retreat in Iraq begin?
-snip-The idea that in such circumstances, lacking political clout,
congressional support and influential allies (Tony Blair began a
round of toady-ish farewells in Washington today), and with the
US military over-stretched and overwrought, Bush is gearing up
to launch another, even bigger military adventure in the
Middle East is unrealistic.
-snip-Read more:
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/simon_tisdall/2007/05/iran_is_safe_for_now.html