U.S. War on Iran: When, Not If

The United States and Iran seem to have firmly set on a path that leads to the hell of war. There are hopes for the best - and I myself would be happy to be erring on the pessimistic side - but the way things look here and now, hopes are increasingly overshadowed by grim reality.

Assertive statements on the American side and Gulf wargames on the Iranian side equally scream of muscle-flexing. Either side, while portraying the other as a new evil empire, is in fact perfectly aware of the danger the opponent poses to its core ideological and political values. Though neither risks thumbing its nose on third-party peacemakers, neither actually listens to whatever they say.