For his part, Mr Obama has made it clear that he would countenance war only if Iran were building a nuclear weapon, which his intelligence chiefs do not now think is the case.

ECONOMIST: Iran

We now know enough to be reasonably confident that such action would have led to nuclear war.

BBC: The speeches written but never given

Rather, it is a question of risking going to war now, when U.S. military capabilities are relatively strong and North Korean nuclear forces are minimal (or not yet completed), rather than later, when such advantageous conditions will almost surely not exist.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center For Security Policy

Then as now, Iran sought a war with Israel in Lebanon to divert international attention from its nuclear weapons program.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: A war on whose terms?

Nuclear deterrence, this school of thought asserts, was shown to work globally in the cold war and can now be expected to work regionally.

ECONOMIST: The ostrich��s view of the world

Cartwright has described that system, now entering its second study phase, as a key component in transforming the aging Cold War nuclear weapons stockpile.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: STRATCOM: Safe, reliable deterrence critical

With the Iranians now apparently moving from developing nuclear capabilities to developing nuclear warheads, and with the Palestinians escalating their political war and planning their next terror war against Israel, it stands to reason that no one in the government or the IDF wants to consider the strategic implications of Egypt's reversion from peace partner to enemy.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: The real Egyptian revolution