There is great danger lurking....
A land attack on Iran is out of the question. Topographical maps of the region show the impenetrable north-south mountain ranges that would have to be traversed by any invaders. Easily defensible, a nightmare for armored columns. Vastly different than mostly flat Iraq. The plain fact is that, caught in the Iraq quagmire, there are not sufficient forces available to attack Iran. Naive Pentagon planners projected that by now only 5% of U.S. troops would still be in Iraq!
That leaves a bombing campaign as the most likely option. The smart money says the Israelis will finally run out of patience and do the job themselves (As they did to Iraq's Osirak reactor in 1981). It will be the opening salvo in WWIII, for if there is one thing that will ignite the Muslim world it is hated Israel attacking Muslim people and soil (Realizing this during the Gulf War I, the U.S. exerted extreme pressure on Israel to prevent it from retaliating against the Scuds).
Muslims worldwide will protest and ignite civil unrest in protest of the Israeli attack. Countries like Britain and France with large Muslim communities will see riots in the streets.
The Iranians will strike back. Where else but all the fat targets in the narrow Straits of Hormuz? All it will take is one ship/oil tanker sunk by a missile or mine for insurance rates to skyrocket and shipping to effectively cease. That's 40% of the world's oil shut down, not to mention enraged Arab nations turning off the spigot and shutting down production - deja vue 1973 after the Yom Kippur war.
With the cost of gas doubling and tripling - when it can be found - the U.S. economy will sink into recession. At the same time we will see increasing terror attacks by Muslim fanatics on our soil and against U.S. interests worldwide.
I work in Washington DC. All it would take is a couple of backpack suicide bombers on a couple of metro lines during rush hour to paralyze the nation's capital for days and weeks. Simultaneous attacks in several cities would cause unimaginable panic across the country. Throw in a few massive car bombs in downtown metropolitan areas, letter bombs and suspicious white powder showing up in the mail, the kidnapping and videotaped beheading of a few pro-Israeli public figures or vocal Muslim critics, and you have national pandemonium. The amazing thing is how easy it would be to pull it off.
Overstretched, facing economic distress and terrorism at home, the U.S. military will be compelled to avenge its (inevitable) naval losses in the Persian Gulf, and would become bogged down in attacking Iran. Other principal global players will weigh in - the Russians and Chinese - given the stakes (world oil supply). And you can bet that they will use any opportunity to topple America as a premier world power. Incessant demands by the Muslim world that Israel be "punished" will reach fever pitch, accompanied by escalating violence that threatens to engulf nations.
The whole world, it will seem, will be in the grip of confusion, fear, and uncertainty about what lies ahead. As was prophesied long ago: "In that day there will be Great Tribulation."
No need to repeat it, but a couple of backpack bombs on the Metro at rush hour would kill a lot of people but we are a tad tougher than folks guess.
I arrived at the Metro station in Springfield EARLY on 9/12 just to get back to work as soon as possible and see what I could contribute to the war effort.
We even had some Democrats show up as well ~ not all of them found their knees turned to jello.