After 9/11, President Bush named the axis of evil and put Iraq, Iran, and North Korea on notice for invasion and regime change. Iraq was first because they were an easy target–during the first gulf war Iraqis surrendered to anything they could find. I’m sure that Bush and his advisers thought Gulf War II would go the same way. But no such luck.

The insurgency in Iraq is booming and shows no sign of slowing down. Just this week 14 Marines were killed when their 37-ton armored vehicle was hit with a road side bomb. The devastating explosion flipped the vehicle and sent it forty feet down the road. This wasn’t your ordinary home-made bomb.

The insurgents have started using shape charges to attack American forces. Shape charges are very powerful because they direct a lot of explosive power on a small area. Shape charges are used in building demolitions and armor piercing rounds among other things. It’s not something you can find with ease. So, where did they get it? Apparently these kind of explosives are coming from Iran.

As I watched NBC Nightly News tonight I saw the rhetoric starting up to justify a war against Iran. Rumsfeld said today that Iran wanted to derail the democratic process in Iraq (NBC). This is how it begins. It won’t be long before the vast echo chamber is resonating with talk about how big of a threat Iran is to peace and how they hate democracy and freedom and how we need to hurry up and act before they acquire nuclear weapons and pose an even bigger danger to our way of life.

Maybe the Iranian government gives such assistance to the insurgency in Iraq to protect themselves. Every American soldier killed in Iraq is one less that will be going into Iran. After all, I’m sure Iran would rather take on the threat of American imperialism “over there” rather than facing it on the streets of Tehran.