No one will admit the obvious: We are at war with Iran

Stuxnet was a cyberweapon used against a regime that has attacked the civilized world for years. The problem is, no one has the courage to admit the truth: We are at war.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is on a five day trip throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Along the way he’s found time to state the obvious: Sanctions have done squat to change the Iranians’ desire for nukes. Let me repeat that again: Squat.

However, like most administrations, he then follows up the truth with an attempt to obscure it:

“What we all need to do is to continue the pressure on Iran, economically and diplomatically … to negotiate and to ultimately do what’s right in joining the international family,” [said Panetta].

After throwing up a little after the bit about joining the “international family” (How many families do you know that stone their women?) I was saddened because it’s obvious that this will all end militarily.Why? Because military operations have been going on for quite some time, even if media and politicians refuse to acknowledge that we’re at war.

What do you think Stuxnet was, my friends? That was a big, fat cyberweapon meant to slow down the creation of a big, fat nuclear weapon. It was an act of war perpetrated on a regime that has committed countless acts of war against free nations for decades with impunity — killing American servicemen on foreign soil by supplying weapons, training and cash to its proxy agents around the globe.

I’ve written before on how the world is living in its own little Christopher Nolan film, Memento, on the Iranian problem, but as the “oh crap, this is real” moment approaches, it’s worth repeating. The reason for writing this now is because three scenarios are likely to unfold:

1. Israel strikes Iran with conventional weapons before the presidential election. Despite having a Nobel Peace Prize winner *cough* in office for just under four years, George W. Bush will be blamed for going into Iraq when he should have been focused on “diplomatic” efforts with Iran (as if that would have helped).
2. Mitt Romney is elected president and he of course supports Israel (as any sane American president would) when they strike, and the anti-war movement — so mysteriously absent over the past few years during Obama’s Terror Tuesdays — rises from the dead to accuse President Romney of being a war monger of Bushian proportions.
3. President Obama is re-elected and Israel attacks. Despite having a Nobel Peace Prize winner *cough* starting his second term in office, George W. Bush will be blamed for going into Iraq when he should have been focused on “diplomatic” efforts with Iran (as if that would have helped).

See how that works? No matter how all of this plays out, the blame for fighting Barack Obama could not quell will fall onto someone else’s shoulders. Think of it like Obama’s defenders, who also find interesting ways to explain away his feckless YouTube diplomacy, his failures at the United Nations over Syria, and the $40 million dollar fiber optic upgrades to Guantanamo Bay.

Here is the bottom line: We are at war. President Obama won’t tell you that and Leon Panetta won’t tell you that, but the pawns have been in play for quite some time. Stuxnet was a fancy set of moves that required digital knights and bishops to enter the fray, and no one denies it. The sooner we realize what’s happening, the sooner we can figure out how to get ourselves out of this mess. If you disagree, that’s fine. I truly hope I’m wrong about the how all of this will end … but I don’t believe that will be the case. Just remember this blog post when the bombs you traditionally associate with warfare start exploding on your television screen.