Can Bush attack again?

Though the balance of reason weighs against the US waging war on Iran, since when has the Bush administration appeared reasonable, asks Galal Nassar.

At a time of ongoing talks between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), of diplomatic efforts by a group of UN Security Council members to persuade Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment activities, and coordination between Washington and Tehran over Iraq to the extent of forming joint security committees, a dangerous current is pushing in the polar opposite direction and gaining momentum. There is a growing frequency of leaks, innuendoes, outright threats and other signs that point to an immanent military attack by the US or Israel or both against Iran.



Is a fourth war really slated for the Gulf or is it all part of an orchestrated pressure to compel Iran to capitulate to Western demands to halt its nuclear development programme? This article takes an in-depth look at the harbingers of war and the obstacles to war, obstacles that may ultimately gain the upper hand if reports that secret negotiations have been ongoing between Washington and Tehran for five years are anything to go by.

Al-Ahram