Weird scenario where this might work: Bush, notorious liar and loose cannon, and promiscuous user of US military power, threatens Iran with war and nukes through sneaky channels (i.e., Hersh). It would be easy to feed Hersh anything through his military contacts. The purpose of this is to scare the pants off Iran, as they think a raving Bush is going to nuke them. They back down, get their mitts off Iraq, stop building nukes of their own. Success!

No other US president would be able to pull off this threat, because no other US president could have as big a reputation for stupidity and illegality and renegade cowboy hip-shooting.

The idea is, there is no plan for nuking Iran, we just want to make them think there is.

The downside of this idea is that Bush isn't that smart, and he really IS that cowboy; nukes go off in Iran, and WWIII begins, with us on the obviously losing side. Not even Britain or Australia are following us off the nuclear cliff.

That's the only way I can figure it. Because otherwise, holy shit!

after 6 years of Bush, I feel that I can say, resoundingly and unequivocally

NO he is not that smart.

There are few things I can say with that much certainty.

But Bush's smarts or lack of them are only a tiny portion of the decision making of his administration. The question is, what are the Wolfowitzes of the world saying? I don't read Foreign Affairs and the other outlets for the latest in global-domination theory anymore.

The good news is Bush's increasing world isolation; Berlusconi's going down, and Bliar is totally paralyzed in Britain. We're ending with a Coalition of the Desperate Sycophants. Even the kooks are noticing.

Two tt's in Betting.

sound's like a sucker's bet to me.