Iran is more than one man's loud mouth

This view of Tehran is from a large collection of images available on a blog by Ali (Jeff) Khoshgozaran Haghighi, Iranian expat at USC.

...And
No, I am not a terrorist nor a wife beater,
I don't live in a tent in a desert
I speak Farsi, not Arabic
Iran is pronounced "EERAUN" and not "I - ran" (it's not track & field)
News flash: Iran and Iraq are two different countries ,
Middle east is a region and NOT a continent,
And camels are not our way of transportation.
Iranian women are just as outspoken (if not more) and liberal as theEuropean women,
Iran is the first country to have red white and green for a flag,
A beautiful country ran by the wrong people
But still the best part of Middle East

When I come across link chains such as this, via blogs like A Persian's Perspective I am amazed that editorials such as the one published yesterday in Lebanon's Daily Star even have to be written.

I don't know where to begin.

The reader is invited to drill into the information for himself.

The prospect of yet another war in the Middle East, this time with Iran, looms larger than ever. Those of us looking for more civilized alternatives are once again being pushed to the margins. We can commiserate all day with one another, but those holding the reins of power -- in BOTH countries -- seem hell-bent on making war.

Thanks to Elijah Zarwan for the Star link.

►►►I watched Vice-President Cheney's speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars on August 26, 2002, in the residence where I was staying in Kabul, Afghanistan. I heard Cheney deliver his famous falsehood:
The Iraqi regime has in fact been very busy enhancing its capabilities in the field of chemical and biological agents. And they continue to pursue the nuclear program they began so many years ago. These are not weapons for the purpose of defending Iraq; these are offensive weapons for the purpose of inflicting death on a massive scale...
etc., etc.
[...]
I hesitated before posting this. I don't want to spread alarmist rumors. I don't want to lessen the pressure on the Ahmadinejad government in Tehran. But there are too many signs of another irresponsible military adventure from the Cheney-Bush administration for me just to dismiss these reports. I am putting them into the public sphere in the hope of helping to mobilize opposition to a policy that would further doom the efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq and burden our country and the people of the Middle East with yet another unstoppable fountain of bloodshed.

►►►More and more pundits are coming to the view that Bush might actually strike Iran, although, many suspect that US military leaders will revolt if he should be so foolhardy. Nevertheless, the US forces are in place for a major strike. Iran will have to lie low for some time...

►►►The informed blogosphere and newsosphere are abuzz with rumors* that a US war, or a sustained attack (i.e.war), on Iran is being put out this week. [LINK ]

►►►Still, I was inclined (you were inclined) to dismiss all this bluster as sabre-rattling. Alas, in the past week it has become apparent (see below) that those sabres are Tomahawk missiles -- and that they're locked, aimed, loaded.
Here are the indications that a large bombing campaign against Iran is not only on the table, but is in fact the main dish -- the turkey, if you will, of Thanksgiving 2007. I list them in order of ascending terrifyingness. [Howard Rodman at Huffpo...]