With the creeping possibility of a nuclear breakout, its vigorous sponsorship of international terrorism and its escalating intervention next door in Iraq, the Islamic Republic of Iran is a triple threat — at least — to international security and America's Middle Eastern interests. Indeed, perhaps no country fits the definition of rogue state as well as Iran does. Making matters worse, Iran's confidence and clout in the region — and beyond — are indubitably on the rise.

http://www.armedforcesjournal.com/2007/04/2591394

In 1968,the U.S.S. Pueblo gave the United State the open door to set things right on the Korean peninsula. President Johnson pulled his ***'s ears in the Oval Office while the crew suffered in a North Korean hell hole being starved and tortured.
Cdr. Bucher, after all his suffering was facing a courts martial. Charges later dropped. He died of complications brought on by his treatment while in captivity.

Why was North Korea given a pass when the U.S. had the justification and capability to carpet bomb them into eternity?
Thanks LBJ and the democrats for looking after our welfare.

The opening to put a lid on Iran has come and gone. Jimmy Carter, bless his heart, blew it big time. Iran's military and economic strength was hanging out for the U.S. military to pick like a cherry. An embassy take over is an act of war, right? Not in Carter's book.
I'm sure that was the fertile ground that our current problems took root in.
Thanks J.C. and the democrats for keeping the world safe.

While I'm at it. President Truman made clear that Gen. McArthur would not ruffle any feathers of those who hated us. Well, Looks like it is fight or surrender for Taiwan, thanks to Harry T for all his foresight to protect us from future harm, oh, and I must thank his brother democrats for helping him along. U.S.S.R. and China had serious cause to hesitate in confronting the nuclear U.S.

President Bush (2) said he'd have our military kick the puddin' out of those who support terrorism. Hello, Iran calling.
Thanks President Bush (2) for carrying through on your promise to keep us safe in a world screwed up by your predecessors in the White House.
Thanks republicans for not holding Dubya's feet to the fire on this one.
While I'm at it, thanks democrat Harry Reid for telling the world that the United States is peopled by cowards that won't fight when conditions and justification are perfect.
Beam me up Scotty, no intelligent life here.
NJ

The Long War against terrorism and religious extremism needs to be fought and thought of in the same context as the Cold War. Long durations of extensive economic and diplomatic pressure marked by periods of intense and limited use of military force.
The Cold War ended due to the indirect exhaustion of the Soviet Command Market Economy. The Communist nations (specifically the Soviet Union) were bled economically dry by the costs of militarization and international investments into weak satellite regimes. Nuclear Weapons and massive conventional armies prevented the possiblity of the United States and Soviet from entering into direct conflicts, but wars through proxy and the subsequent subsidation of weak regimes created a one sided burden open the inflexible and rigid market models of the Soviet Union. Cuba, China, Vietnam, and North Korea were tactical military victories for Communist forces during the Cold War, but they were also ulcers on the economic strength of the Soviet Union. Afghanistan and the Strategic Defense Initiative and force mobilization and improvements under the Reagan administration further exacerbated the economic weaknesses in the Soviet Union and expedited its ultimate collapse. This is acknowledgement of history, however, does not mean that American policy or military activity was coherently and effectively administered throughout the course of the Cold War, far from it, American military actions often overstretched and threatened to destroy our own resilient free market economies. Vietnam and Korea were enormous economic burdens upon our economy and could have easily derailed our meteoric rise on the World Economic Stage, but they were short term anomolies in the 50 year war and for the most part military spending and the costs of war were kept in check throughout the Cold War period. American political and economic systems prevented the overextension of our military and economic resources, while the Soviet political and economic system could not. Communist influence was doomed to failure because of this reality.
The Long War against extremism is similar to the Cold War in the sense that the United States cannot economically or militarily support fighting a large scale conventional campaign against our enemy. Our enemy is diverse, well organized, and resilient to direct military attacks. Our enemy is well funded, technologically competent, and media savy. Extremism like Communism must be fought Economically and Politically more than militarily. The question thus lies in how to use the military effectively to expedite the destruction of extremist forces without creating new grounds for it flourish and grow. The key to this overextension lies in addressing the greatest area of economic and political support for the extremists; State Sponsorship.
The greatest source of terrorist military training equipment and support comes from states. Al Qaida, Hamas, Hezbollah, etc. all have recieved extensive support from states through the creation of safehavens or the military assistance of their armed forces. American efforts to this point have focused on decapitating the regimes that sponsor, train, or passively tolerate these extremist forces but that has greatly over extended our own military and resources. Afghanistan and Iraq have been important operations for flushing out and destroying the immediate threat of terrorist extremists, but they have created fresh sources of economic and political support for the extremist cause and hurt the long term strategic objectives of our War on Terror. The key to future operations lies in using economic and political pressure against hostile and friendly regimes in the Middle East to fight extremists for us. Saudia Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and Pakistan are examples of friendly regimes that have been relatively successful in curbing extemist influences within their own borders with proper economic and diplomatic pressure. Obviously these efforts are slow and require extensive international pressure to maintain progress, but the Saudi's and the Pakistani's have been the source of many of our greatest catches of high value targets. Iran and Syria can be similarly induced to work for us rather than against us, but the methods of coercion should be different. Political decapitation is not the solution to fixing the behavior of these regimes. Economic decapitation is. Oil and Water are the life blood of every country in the Middle East and the easiest targets for the use of military force. Syria and Iran are not immune to this fact. The Syrian and Iranian governments rely heavily upon their militaries and their bureacracies to maintain control of their restive populations, these resources require money to sustain and control their power and could be easily crippled by the temporary destruction of their economic base. America shouldn't threaten to use force against the military or the governments of Iran and Syria, but their oil and water infrastructures; primarily oil. If we want to stop the sponsorship of extremism we need to cut its funding; oil is the primary source of the money Iran and Syria use to sponsor terrorism. If we destroy their ability to produce and sell oil we destroy their ability to sponsor terrorism and maintain internal control of their populations. The price of oil will increase globally, but our allies and our friends will reap the benefits, not our enemies. Iran and Syria will not be decapitated politically, but their ability react internationally will be muted by their natural tendency to rebuild and maintain internal support. Future Political and Military behavior in these countries will be restrained by the emerging economic realities we place upon them, and Iran and Syria will either choose the route of the former Soviet Union and peacefully join the new world order or be overthrown by the internal forces set free from their repressive governments.