Obama administration using Netanyahu's speech to proactively defend a potential Iran deal

[Tom Rinaldo]

2. Excellent piece. Thanks. And the there is this inconvenient truth about bombing Iran

Not only would it directly lead to full fledged war, not only would Iran strike back directly at both the U.S. and Israel, not only would it inspire and motivate new waves of terrorists, not only would it devastate the world economy with a complete disruption of shipping of Mid Eastern oil, not only will hundreds of thousands die...

But bombing Iran would only set back its nuclear program by three to five years, according to military experts. Unless we are prepared to invade and occupy Iran indefinitely, they will end up armed with nukes anyway, fortified as far below ground as needed to withstand all but nuclear blasts. And they will be mad as hell. Would we then go nuclear in a war with Iran?

The U.S already has Sunni crazies gunning for us, do we really need highly motivated state supported Shiite crazies gunning for us also while we are also fully engaging our conventional forces in war. Might not North Korea and Russia see the U.S. being bogged down in a massive mid eastern war as a perfect time to engage in behavior that ordinarily they would hesitate to embark unless the U.S. is diverted? What about those Baltic states the Russians would love to reabsorb?