DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN, YOGI ??

For a while it seemed there was the distant sound of sabre rattling on the wind blowing from the White House, and borne by the media alarm cryers. Red alert! Red Alert! Iran is building nuclear weapons! with the not so subtle hint that such an action represented a threat to the peace and stability of the world in general and a direct threat to the safety of America.

All three items are quite probably true to one degree or another. Possibly exclude "peace and stability of the world", as there isn't a great deal of that being served up these days. But if Iran does succeed in building nukes, there is little doubt that nation would present a threat. Iran doesn't have a history of being cool headed and rational in its decisions, and it definitely views the U.S. and her allies as enemies.

What was also troubling was that the news appeared to be preparing the American public for the necessity of a preemptive strike against Iran to prevent a potential threat from becoming a reality. Does that bring echos of WMDs? The world knows what happened as a result of the threat Iraq's WMDs presented.

Since public opposition to the war in Iraq has been growing, and to a lesser degree the war in Afghanistan, and our President has been under fire , the Iran nuke program news has been put on the back burner. Perhaps people in high places came to the conclusion that it was not a good time to offer an excuse - or reason, as it may be - to work up another war.

As you recall, when Iraq's alleged WMDs were a hot topic, UN inspectors were sent to search for and verify the allegations. Now there is news of neighboring Iran engaged in activities that could lead to building nukes, WMDs.

On November 21, 2005, on page A16 the Houston Chronicle carried an article titled "Bill would bar U.N. inspections", datelined Tehran. The article states:

"...The board of governors of the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency is expected to review Iran's case... . The agency passed a resolution in September and called on Iran to suspend all uranium enrichment-related activities.

Iran's parliament ... approved the outline of a bill that would bar U.N. inspectors from its nuclear sites if the U.N. nuclear agency referred Iran's case to the Security Council for possible punitive measures. ...The bill now will go to Iran's Guardian Council, a hard-line constitutional watchdog, for ratification. The council is expected to approve the measure. "

All this sounds distressingly familiar. Is there another war on the drawing board?

Afghanistan. Iraq. Iran? How many more?