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Several precursor events have taken, or are taking, place, as you have noted.
The AQ money tree seems to have lost most of its leaves recently and what money is flowing is or should be very suspect.
The Russian clarification that no official military were involved in the Iran nuke efforts is helpful. The Israeli response to the latest terror attack should be very troubling to both the Syrians and the Iranian Mullahs. The House of Saud appears to have grudgingly accepted a Shia dominated(in a relatively more democratic sense) Iraqi government.
The attacks against the coalition forces in the Mideast have been shown to be ineffective on the strategic, tactical, and, most importantly, political levels, with the only AQ/Baath success being the killing of Muslims by other Muslims.
Do you see the pace of events as picking up in tempo?