Excellent analysis, Chris. I agree with almost everything you wrote except your statement that Cheney & Rumsfeld aren't too pleased with Condi right now. Cheney & Rumsfeld have a lot of input into our foreign policy decisions, especially Cheney, and they have been fully involved in our ME policy through their dialog with Bush and Condi. The President is ultimately making the policy decisions here and I think Cheney & Rumsfeld are satisfied with those decisions.
But you're so right that this war between Israel and Hezbollah is all about Iran. It certainly looks like Iran wants to have a low-intensity military confrontation with the West, at least for another year or so. When the West is finally prepared to move the confrontation to high-intensity and bomb Iran's nuclear facilities, then certain groups in Iran will probably ditch the fun-sized psycho and make a deal to avoid airstrikes.
Okay, I'm prepared to believe that Cheney and Rummy are on board with Condi, and that this is a propaganda piece from a hostile source, given what I've been told from a friendly player. However, I do expect the Iranians to strike first, and in a big way.
Be Seeing You,
Chris