Great Satan's Persian Chess Tour

Great Satan's 8 day ME Tour was a steady warning about and to the Islamic Republic's

"regime that sits in Tehran. Iran is today the world's leading state sponsor of
terror. It sends hundreds of millions of dollars to extremists around the world
-- while its own people face repression and economic hardship at home. It
undermines Lebanese hopes for peace by arming and aiding the terrorist group
Hezbollah. It subverts the hopes for peace in other parts of the region by
funding terrorist groups like Hamas and the Palestine Islamic Jihad. It sends
arms to the Taliban in Afghanistan and Shia militants in Iraq. It seeks to
intimidate its neighbors with ballistic missiles and bellicose rhetoric. And
finally, it defies the United Nations and destabilizes the region by refusing to
be open and transparent about its nuclear programs and ambitions. Iran's actions
threaten the security of nations everywhere."

Kuwait's Parliment Member (Islamist Party) Nasser al-Sane pleaded with Great Satan to go easy on the little fiefdom which has served as a launchpad to regime change Iraq back in '03. Worried about the possibility of

"the use of force against Iran ... We don't want our region to be an area of
wars and bloodshed."

Bahrain's Dr. Nizar Al Baharna, chief cat minister for foreign affairs, admitted how awesome Great Satan was yet also subtlely noted that Iran's 11 thousand missiles a minute could really turn Bahrain into a surface as devastated as the moon. Hoping this trip might

"steer the region away from the specter of war."

Great Satan was relentless, disregarding and dissing NIE 2007 fans and totally heck bent about

"strengthening our longstanding security commitments with our friends in the
Gulf -- and rallying friends around the world to confront this danger before it
is too late."

While the Mullah's Revo Guard Motorboat game of chicken recently proved that Iran is aggressive, confrontational and generally up to no good. Def Sec Gates confirms the Persian Annihilation Day Redux was an indicator that indicated it was only a matter of time before the Mullah's acted out and got more than they bargained for.

"Two or three of these events — maybe not quite as dramatic as this one — has
happened over the last year. A reminder that there is a very unpredictable
government in Tehran."

Little Satan agrees - being a democratic member of the UN that Iran has threatened to wipe off the map, she makes her own plans - regardless of an Arab coalition

"It’s up to the international community to act in a determined way to stop
Iran’s nuclearization. But at the same time, we have the responsibility to
prepare for any scenario in the event that international efforts do not
succeed."

Prince Saud al-Faisal of Saudi is in a tight spot, playing a risable game as a JDAM jazzed up pacifist

"Saudi Arabia is a neighbor of Iran in the Gulf. We are keen that harmony and
peace should prevail among states of the region."

F. Gregory Gause III, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Vermont makes a good case that even with smart bombs

"The Saudis are playing a sophisticated game here. They see Iran as a rising
power in the region—in Iraq, in Lebanon, and among Palestinians. They fear that
Iran [the major Shiite power] will be the ultimate beneficiary of the Iraq war
[because of Iraq’s large Shiite population] and so they do want to contain them.
But they want to contain and embrace at the same time. They don’t want a direct
confrontation with Iran. They had those direct confrontations during the
Ayatollah Khomeini period during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s and they didn’t
like it."

Shibley Telhami at Brookings Saban Institute points out this could apply to the entire Arab Leauge

"They are less worried about a military confrontation with Iran than about
Iran's growing influence in the Arab world. In other words, what Arab
governments truly fear is militancy and the public support for it that
undermines their own popularity and stability."

Def Sec Gates laid it on the line - discussing stability, instability and Iran's longevity in her wicked, hegemonic game.

"There can be little doubt that their destabilizing foreign policies are a
threat to the interests of the United States, to the interests of every country
in the Middle East, and to the interests of all countries within the range of
the ballistic missiles Iran is developing.

That said, there may be some in the region who believe that the staying power
and strength of the United States have been diminished or undermined by the wars
in Iraq and Afghanistan. They may believe our resolve has been corroded by the
challenges we face at home and abroad.
This would be a grave misperception.

Over the past century, many nations and empires and movements have looked to our shores in search of signs of vulnerability – signs that Americans are weak or
undisciplined; that we are stretched thin and unable to fulfill our commitments;
that we do not have the patience or the will to face a long-term challenge; that
open and vigorous debate in our democracy reflects underlying divisions and
irresolution with respect to defending our vital interests.

Imperial Germany, Imperial Japan, Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, the Soviet Union, Ba'Athist Iraq, the Taliban and the Mahdi Army – all made this fundamental miscalculation. All paid the price. All are on the ash heap of history."