I don’t believe America is ready at this time to launch an attack on Iran, but would be capable of handling Iran attacking us. If you consider the reports of Iranians at the Iraqi border attempting the same thing with U.S. Soldiers back in September then they already have attempted it and we did nothing.
Then again, maybe we’re just about ready to pound them regardless of what they do. Just some idle speculation.
I think that's the case. We're in position now. We've got the firepower that's not already dedicated to the strained Iraq mission in place. Releasing those hostages takes just a little bit of the wind out of our sails. Just a little bit of pressure is off the valve.