[JamesP81]

reads true. Address the problems at hand, share responsibility of other less pressing issues with allies, and then work to define the issues that will arise in the future.

I don't really consider Iran to be a 'less pressing' issue. True, many analysts don't expect them to have a bomb for some time, but do we dare trust that assumption?

[unionblue83]

I think it obvious that the Israelis think that Iran is a pressing issue, owing to the statements that have been coming from Sharon et al. However, I don't think that they should be so vocal about it unless they are playing for the "We said that we were going to take out their (iran's) nuke facilities..." angle. No matter how hard it appears that we are pressing the Israeli gov't, I believe that we definitely wouldn't stop Israel from doing whatever they deem necessary, even if we could. Nor should we.

[rogue yam]

In short, no one is going to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons, but given the time the Iranians need, this is a problem for Bush's successor.

This does not sound like Pres. Bush to me. I expect that by January 2009, Iran's ability to produce nuclear weapons will be significantly diminished from what it is now, one way or another.