David Kay, who was a conservative darling until his final report on Iraqi WMD was basically "we fucked up big time" has an editorial in the WaPo: Let's Not Make the Same Mistakes in Iran.

The discussion of intelligence reform has focused on reordering and adding structure on top of an eroded intelligence foundation. And now we hear the drumrolls again, this time announcing an accelerating nuclear weapons program in Iran... There is an eerie similarity to the events preceding the Iraq war.

Kay seems to see the same process in work as what began w/Iraq in 2002. The idea of another war -- let alone one sold like old-west snake-oil -- is frightening, but I'm far from convinced that the Bush administration will be able to push anything resembling a full-scale invasion if Iran. We simply can't afford it.

What they're advocating is the next step in the Neo-Con manuel: using our existing military footprint. There's been a lot of talk about stepping up a major covert action (and maybe a little bombing) campaign, using Iraq as a base. That's why we're building so many perminient bases and a $1.5B embassay, in case you were wondering. It's not a good path to go down because it ends with us having to defend Iraq (probably using Iraqis as cannon fodder) against ground invasion. That'll cost us.

Also on a side note, does anyone else find it odd that there are three (3) banner ads on NewsMax that advertise hand-to-hand fighting techniques? If I had more time and energy I might make something of that. Another time, perhaps.