Libya versus Iran

While the Bush administration rightfully celebrates the effect of the Iraq war on Libya and their choice to abandon their weapons program, shouldn't it also then take responsibility for Iran speeding up it's bid for nuclear weapons.

The timing of Iran's expediting their nuclear program has two strategic reasons - one, to deter a US invasion and two, because the US is "bogged down" in Iraq, there is no way we could send a sizable enough ground force to occupy Iran. We could bomb them, but as Max Boot acknowledges says in the article, bombing would probably not be sufficient to guarantee the elimination of the nuclear threat.

The Iraq War has ended the reign of some fasicsts in the Middle East - the Hussein's and the Baathists in Iraq and Ghaddafy in Libya, but it has also emboldened some fascists in the Middle East - Zarqawi and the Iranians. We need to acknowledge both.