Scott,

Great job getting Antiwar radio started! Today’s interview with Gareth Porter was particularly good.

Porter’s analysis interpreting the administration’s recent actions/statements with regard to Iran is quite reassuring. However, I hope it isn’t too dependent on assumptions of rational thinking. Let’s hope the Israelis are similarly constrained by reason and reality. I don’t believe Gareth explicitly addressed that question — but from what I’ve read it would be difficult for Israel to unilaterally execute an effective bombing campaign against Iran’s dispersed nuclear facilities (despite Cheney’s one-time suggestion that this was a possibility). Again, if rational thinking imposes any boundaries, one would conclude that an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities would degrade, rather than improve, Israel’s near-term security situation — particularly in light of what Israel encountered in the July War in Lebanon.

So Porter’s analysis in a nutshell is that the administration’s statements/actions amount to just cynical saber-rattling.