My dad had a philosophy for life that said it you are faced with something inevitable, regardless of how bad it is, you're better off to prepare yourself as well as you can then take the battle to that something. He believed that nothing bad gets better with time, that regardless of size or danger of a situation, you are better off to take it on when you have some control over the terms of the encounter.
I place the WOT and our energy dependence squarely in that category. As bad as the economic effects would be of dealing with Iran RIGHT NOW, it will be worse, much worse if we wait until they have, and God forbid used, a nuclear device against us or Israel.
My favorite cartoon strip of all time “Bloom County” had a short series where Opus is about to jump into the swimming hole when he sees a snake in the water below. One by one the other characters join him on the diving board offering all sorts of suggestions. In the last frame the board has broken in half, and everyone who couldn't make up their mind as to a course of action is in the water with the snake. I have it in a book here and need to make a copy of it for posting when situations like this are discussed.
PS Turns out it wasn't a snake at all, but a discarded battery cable from an old Pinto! Every day we put off dealing with Iraq is one more day they have to further tilt the scales in their favor. Every dollar we spend on energy with countries and regimes that hate us and wish ill will further tilts the scales in their favor. I can't believe that a nation as powerful in every way as America can't find a way to bring about regime change in Iran short of war. Come on, surely we have something or control something they need and can't get or produce on their own!
We seem to agree very much on this. We’ve been putting off energy independence here since at least the 1970s, knowing that it’s a clear and present danger....