Even if the U.S. talk about military options is exaggerated or wildly speculative . . . Iran has to be aware that it's pushing the international community to take some action. |
Iranian leaders have said some outrageous things and yet, however outrageous, the country is too big to ignore, and the problem is too complex to settle easily. Certainly, walking away from Iran doesn't settle it. |
The current administration is not one to announce large-scale troop reductions. |
The next US administration will have forces in Iraq and a fairly large number for some years to come. |
The United States has been obviously eager to refer it to New York, to the UN Security Council for the past three years, ... And it's been the EU diplomacy, and the EU-3 diplomacy in particular, that has forestalled that. Here, with the breakdown of an apparent agreement, the Europeans had promised to move forward with a referral. The votes haven't come behind the Europeans and the Americans on this, so they have really no recourse but to delay and buy time. |
This (Bush's pledge) is a landmark bit of phrasing which I am sure was at least partly calculated. |
This is a long-term proposition, and I would expect the next U.S. administration to have forces inside Iraq at a fairly large number for some years to come. |
We're likely to see continued bloodshed and instability inside Iraq, |