Iran and the United States are on a collision course. The U.S. has never forgiven or accepted the 1979 Islamic revolution. The overthrow of its satrap, the shah was a major blow to U.S. hegemony in the Middle East. That it came in a country with some of the world's largest oil and natural gas reserves made it doubly painful for Washington. The ensuing hostage ordeal was a humiliation. "The Weekly Standard," the influential neocon journal says the U.S. has a "blood debt" with Iran. Israel's Ariel Sharon advised the U.S. to go after Iran "the day after Iraq is crushed." Slight problem there. Bush keeps saying that "all options are on the table." Reports circulate of U.S. forces already operating inside Iran. Plans go forward on bombing.

Stephen Zunes
Stephen Zunes is a specialist on the Middle East. His articles appear in leading journals and magazines. He teaches at the University of San Francisco. He also serves a senior policy analyst and Middle East editor for the Foreign Policy in Focus Project. He is the author of "Tinderbox: US Middle East Policy & the Roots of Terrorism."