World War III Watch

I'm no more, nor less paranoid than the next guy, but this worries the hell out of me:

Iran Test-Fires a New Missile With a 1,200-Mile Range

American officials and international inspectors are concerned that Iran seems to have made significant progress in the three technonologies necessary to field an effective nuclear weapon: enriching uranium to weapons grade;developing a missile capable of reaching Israel and parts of Western Europe; and designing a warhead that will fit on the missile.

The greatest mystery surrounds the warhead program, which intelligence agencies said in late 2007 had been halted at the end of 2003. Asked today whether he had seen additional evidence to indicate that the weaponization program had restarted, Mr. Saymore declined to comment.

The announcement was likely to reinforce Israeli concerns, voiced strongly by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, about Iran’s regional intentions as a military and political power. The reported launch also followed efforts by the Obama administration to seek a new relationship with Tehran to forestall a nuclear program that Western countries say is designed to build a nuclear bomb. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has threatened to wipe Israel off the map. The Israelis don't take such threats lightly. In 1981 they launched a surprise aerial bombing attack and destroyed Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor, for fear that Saddam was enriching uranium for weapons to be used against them. You have to think they would be willing to do the same thing to Iran. What happens if they do make a strike? What if Iran strikes back? What will the US do, if so? There are so many horrible scenarios one can think of, in a region not known for cool heads.