Uh, we appreciate the thought, but...

...we're quite capable of coming up with enough scare stories to justify an attack on you on our own, thank you very much.

Tehran (Reuters, October 5) - Iran has increased the range of its missiles to 1,250 miles, a senior official was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

The range would put parts of Europe within reach for the first time. Military experts had earlier put Iran's missile range at 810 miles, which would allow it to strike anywhere in Israel.

"Now we have the power to launch a missile with a 2,000 km (1,250-mile) range," the news agency IRNA quoted influential former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani as saying. "Iran is determined to improve its military capabilities."

"If the Americans attack Iran, the world will change ... they will not dare to make such a mistake," Rafsanjani was quoted as saying in a speech at an exhibition on Space and Stable National Security."

I can't help but compare this to the situation some months before the invasion of Iraq. The intensity isn't as great (at least not yet) but the structure is the same: Accusations about nuclear weapons facing off with alternating declarations of innocence and defiance. The foundation is being built, the concrete is being poured.

Let's do a quick survey. Let's grant first that hard military reality - spelled lack of troops - pretty much forecloses any ground assault on Iran for the foreseeable future. That, however, does not rule out an attack on Iran, perhaps an extended bombing campaign, either "limited" (targeted at a smaller number of high-value sites) or "general" (targeted at pretty much anything that looks vaguely interesting).

So quick show of hands: How many of you think that if re-elected, George Bush would, if the confrontation continues, attack Iran? (My hand is up.)

That's what I thought. Okay, now the trickier one: How many of you truly believe that if he is elected and the confrontation continues, John Kerry would not attack Iran? (My hand is down.)

And if you want to say "well, if Kerry is elected the confrontation won't continue," you'll have to be able to explain how and why it will end. I say it again: The work does not end November 2, it begins. And I will keep saying it as long as we seem in danger of forgetting it.