I agree with Justin that Israel's brinksmanship towards Iran has some US backing behind it. We're a bit tied up at the moment, so they're providing the promise of force that our people, and resources, won't allow. But the Bush Administration is making the same mistake with Iran that they've made everywhere else. Bush himself, by turning himself into a hated figure, has sabotaged our foreign policy by making it popular to oppose him. Thus, when we've got an unpopular priority it makes domestic sense for other countries to deny us our wish. Using Israel to threaten Iran creates the same scenario. Nothing does more for an unpopular Middle East autocracy's approval numbers than standing up to Israel, it's political viagra. Not only that, bringing a verbal aggressor into the picture weakens the EU's hand; suddenly, their calming tone is undercut by Iran's sworn enemy, who's now hopping around in the corner and providing proof for Iran's paranoid weapons rationale. I forgot where I saw it (I think it was in comments at Pandagon), but someone asked, "If Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie filmed an episode of the Simple Life where they had to be White House interns, would their incompetence even stand out?" No, I don't believe it would.