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"Iran has clear objectives in Iraq. The only question is whether the United States still has clear objectives in Iraq – and whether Washington recognizes that this war front just got wider."

The outside influences from the Shi'ites in Iran won't allow democracy to take hold in Iraq. The deep religious hatred by the Shi'ites towards America and the threat of democracy taking hold in the region simply won't allow Iran to stay out of it.

We really must assess how much we are willing to sacrifice in attempting to bring stability to a region where stability and democracy may be utterly impossible.

Not only that, we must also be aware of the great giants of Russia and China waiting in the wings to see how far we will take this thing.

Now, not only are we in occupation status in Afghanistan and Iraq, but we are also going to have to monitor the border between Iraq and Iran for insurgents coming into Iraq to stir and support subversion against the new government (which has yet to be even formed).

The picture is expanding daily - exponentially.

While this is occurring to the east of Israel, the Palestinians continue to plot the destruction of that country (with aid from who knows where).

The whole region from Israel to Iran continues to be a powder keg that could explode any second and cover the entire region in total war.

For example, what would happen in Iran and Iraq if Arafat were assassinated? What impact would it have on our mission to democratize Iraq?

This is a religious war in the minds of hundreds of millions of Muslims. But it is considered just a pain in the butt to the majority of Americans and Europeans - they don't consider it to be a "religious war" and really don't want to be bothered with it at all - as long as it doesn't come into their towns and neighborhoods.

We must act swiftly and with overwhelming force in Iraq within the next few weeks and months if we are to bring this disaster under control and prevent a regional war with Iran.

This being an election year isn't helping matters any either. We can't get enough occupation forces augmentation from other nations, so we are having to bear the brunt of this battle ourselves. We have activated units in the Guard and Reserve to levels unseen since WWII and that still may not be enough to stabilize the new Iraqi democracy.

Thee is no easy answer. But one thing we know for sure, the Iranian mullahs, the Palestinians, and the Islamic nations surrounding our forces in Iraq want to see but one thing come out of all of this and that is for the United States to fail miserably. And these forces will subvert with all the means in their power toward those ends.

Unless there is a major world war that changes the entire world political landscape, we will have U.S. Armed Forces in Iraq at least for the next twenty years.