[M. Espinola]

Geographically Iran is already in checkmate.

How far can mad mullahs swim in the Caspian before cruise missiles sink them?

[madison10]

My word! Does President Bush play chess, too? ;) The world, for the most part, hasn't been watching the board being set up.

[george76]

Thank you for your post and map.

[justa-hairyape]

Nice map. Just like to point out that beside everyone of those American flags also flys another flag. It has a crescent moon on it.

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

What about the carrier group in the Arabian Sea?

[n-tres-ted]

Very nice illustration. Of course, the president has no plan (that the Dems are capable of acknowledging). But the addition of that American flag in Iraq seems quite significant tonight.

[Richard Kimball]

Great post. I've been arguing with people forever about "Why are we in Afghanistan? Why are we in Iraq?" Read a friggin map. Also, to those who think it was foolish to support the Taliban against Russia, if Russia controlled Afghanistan, how many bases would we have there?

I used to go through the same thing about why we were in Viet Nam. The problem was not being there, it was that Lyndon Johnson was trying to run the war. It was destined to be a tightly fought battle, because US success there meant our navy had the run of the entire Asian Pacific coastline, and China and Russia weren't going to allow that without a fight.

Today, it's obvious that Lebanon and Syria are puppets for Iran. Is Iran a puppet for China, though? N. Korea is obviously a Chinese puppet. Don't forget to thank Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton for creating this situation.