Via
Think Progress I see the scary satellite photos are out.
Everyone can play! Look what I found here in Philadelphia!
Joking aside, I suppose it's necessary to explain that just because I mock the inevitable rhetoric on Iran from the Bush administration and the wingnutosphere doesn't mean that I don't think a nuclear Iran thing would be a less than desirable development. But Iran Talk has nothing to do with what we're going to about that, Iran Talk is entirely about domestic politics. There's a difference between Talking and Doing, even if words have consequences, and the Iran PR campaign is more about domestic politics than actually doing anything about the problem.
But, as for how we got here let's remember that George Bush helped kill whatever reformist movement there was in Iran by referring to Iran as part of the "axis of Evil," thus making it easy to paint any Iranian reformer as "objectively pro-American." Much as I don't like the Bush administration I'm not actually hoping that France invades to liberate us and I imagine most Iranians feel much the same
way. The Bush administrations "isolate no matter what" tough talk certainly gives Iran a lot of incentive to get a nuke as quickly as possible.
And, of course, our great Iraqi adventure has made things like air strikes a wee bit difficult. The people in our new pet democracy/Iranian client state probably won't be too thrilled about that. So if there is a weapons development site to be taken out our hands are rather more tied on that account than they would have otherwise been.
I'll admit I worry less about a nuclear Iran than some. State sponsored nuclear terrorism/war would require a completely irrational actor, one even more irrational than North Korea's Dear Leader. Nuclear proliferation is a concern, but state proliferation less than the general wandering nuke issue...