They've increased their efforts on cetrifuge production and by doing so have decreased the time frame in which they might actually have a bomb. This is too big for the idiot in the White House and I shiver at the thought that we're stuck with him for another 20 months. As I have said before, this is a game of high-stakes, high-level chess, and George W. Bush doesn't have it in him to strategize at such a level. And for the record, this is exactly the scenario I was most concerned with when I argued to undecided friends in 2000 that Bush was nowhere near ready for the presidency. You reap what you sew, folks.
That said, voters on the Democratic side need to make Iran (as well as Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Middle East region overall) their #1 issue as they begin the process of choosing a presidential ticket for 2008. With the crises piling up on Bush's watch, it will take someone with a steady hand and some international gumption to begin the process of turning things around - a foreign policy wonk with a great deal of patience and common sense.
With all due respect, that rules out John Edwards, Dennis Kucinich, and Chris Dodd. Barack Obama seems to be surrounding himself with some top-notch national security people, but he needs to prove himself as an astute student of foreign policy (and a fast-learning one at that) well before the primary season kicks off in January of next year.
No, the times in which we live require the Democrats to be way more serious at the international level - even if it means giving in a bit on their domestic social agenda. Joe Biden, Bill Richardson, and yes, even Hillary Clinton, are the candidates that should be taken seriously.
Even better for the Democrats, for the country, and for the globe would be former Vice-President Al Gore.
Of the Republican front-runners, one (McCain) continues to hold on to a "stay-the-Bush-course" strategy, and another (Giuliani) can't even decipher between the Shiites and the Sunnis in Iraq.
But mark my words, if the Democrats nominate a foreign policy novice that nominee will lose to either one of those Republicans. No matter how unpopular Bush is on Election Day.
