Like Iran would put up with
this hot potato for even ten seconds. Notice the Iranians have been very respectful of America since this whole retaliation thing for 9/11 came up. Maybe America does have a soft underbelly composed largely of subcutaneous fat, but to their alarm and chagrin, a lot of people have discovered said underbelly is protected with twenty-four inches of the finest armor-grade, cold-rolled, case-hardened, nickel-plated, chrome-molydenum-vanadium alloy steel in the world.
Was 9/11 their best shot? It was darned near their last one.
I think the middle east has now seen its own vulnerabilities in a very clear way. In Desert Storm we sent conventional forces in there and made it clear that their armed forces were mere pathetic fools incapable of any significant resistance against a conventional US force. In Afghanistan we showed them that we could achieve the same outcome very decisively in a less conventional way, and also showed them that they may have more people under their jurisdiction who would just as soon see their rulers dead as alive. Pity. Maybe this is the end of life as they know it over there in islamville.