I agree with you about this: if it is indeed Iranian weaponry being used against us, then open war is preferable to this shadowy shot in the dark business. The world won't help us, except perhaps for the stalwart few, and even they are in a rough position. It's a law of history that weaker countries band together against the stronger, and that's what's happening to us now (witness the alliance of Old Europe with the Islamofascists, Russia with Syria, etc.).
The problem is that our enemies need not defeat us on the battlefield. We Americans are an impatient lot, sometimes a virtue and sometimes a vice. In war it is a vice. No one wants to see the flower of their nation return in flag-drapped coffins, but it is the cruel reality of what war is. If the American people are this squeamish over 1800 US deaths in Iraq, I can't imagine how they would react to significantly more. It used to be that losing 1800 in a single battle was considered light casualties, let alone a war (obviously, the wounded in action figure raises the casuality level significantly, but it is still shockingly low for a 2 year operation).
Our enemies know how to exploit our strengths, and turn them into weaknesses. Freedom of speech has become the armor of the fifth column. Our faith in the decency of humanity is shaken by the acts of barbarism perpetrated on both soldier and civilian. I firmly believe that every civilization crumbles as a result of its core beliefs--Nazi Germany through war, the Soviet Union through economics, the USA through our liberties. It won't happen in the immediate future, but the our greatest achievement, the Bill of Rights, will be the instrument of our downfall.
But your post in which you express a belief shared by many of us within this forum is also an example of how free speech is also one of the U.S.'s greatest strengths thus we should exploit that strength...by bringing common sense and rational thought to the fifth column...seriously, it would seem to me that since there is debate, now, that the press is agenda driven...our side is winning...the fact that Bush won the election, and that he has not been deterred from appointing Bolton despite the wishes of Pelosi, Kerry, and the rest of their ilk...makes me optimistic...
There comes a point where the silent majority, can no longer bear the utter stupidity and wrong minded sensationalism voiced my the minority...we're taking back this country...and the looney lefties know this, which is why their screed has been at a fever pitch in the last year or so.
Remember, the "Bill of Rights" is what makes us the "good guys" and its up to us to remind the world of this...and IMHO gives us the moral authority to take down to the Tyrants of the world, which have already (defacto) declared war on us.
Iran...may have heavy weapons, but it is still a poorly led rabble of thugs with guns...and yes they can cause casualities via guerilla warfare, but they cannot stand the test of time...if we are willing to have the "will" to fight and stay...it's how you beat insurgents...patience and force of arms.
Have faith brother.