RE: First strike...

We are not contemplating invading and occupying Iran...

Oh, but we are, my friend. Bush said "all options are on the table." When pressed on whether that means invasion, he repeated the statement. The Iranians have put their nuclear experiments in fortified bunkers that we can't touch without using strategic nukes. Are we willing to do that? I don't think Bush has the guts. Besides, strategic nukes don't fit in with the "Bush Doctrine." Separating people and buildings into their component atoms isn't exporting democracy.

Also, keep in mind that the Chinese and the Russians would consider the use of strategic nukes in Iran to be open provocation. Will Bush start World War III just to prove a point in Iran? I think not. It is far easier for him to feed a few more kids to the cannons, and the outcome is a new Persian "democracy" fashioned in Bush's own image.

You lose me when you compare the US with the Soviets...

I'm not making that comparison. I'm comparing Bush and his neo-cons with the Politburo.