When I Was a Cadet

...SFC Peebles used to sometimes say, "A Word to the Wise. That means I'm putting out the Word, and you'd be Wiiiiiiiiise to listen to it." (Recruits and cadets can be thick.) And I was reminded of that when I read what the President had to say today about Israel and Iran. This is pretty stark for a press conference:

But clearly, if I was the leader of Israel, and I listened to some of the statements by the Iranian ayatollahs about — that regarded my security of my country, I’d be concerned about Iran having a nuclear weapon, as well. And in that Israel is our ally, and in that we’ve made a very strong commitment to support Israel, we will support Israel if — if there’s a — if their security is threatened.

I don't guess the mullahs are what we would consider super rational, but most of these Axil of Evil types seem to have an instinct for self-preservation. It looks as though the President is trying to get the Word out that the mullahs personally will not survive a decision to deploy a nuclear weapon. We have reason to think that approach worked against Saddam in 1991 with regard to chemical weapons; we have to hope that it will work in 2005 against the mullahs.