Confirming what has always been the implicit way in which the US is going to get sucked into its next major war, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta confirmed that the US would definitely involve itself in a war on Iran if Israel decided to launch one.

“Obviously Israel is an independent country, and they’ll make whatever decisions they make on their own based on what they think is in their national interests,” Panetta said, adding that “if they should make that decision, that obviously the United States would take action” to protect its interests in the region.

Though Panetta has sought to duck the question in most interviews, insisting only that there was “common cause” with Israel before going on about how the time to attack Iran has not yet arrived.

President Obama has repeatedly made similar statements about “having Israel’s back,” but the reality of what this entails, a commitment to another massive war and potential open-ended occupation, seems to have so far been carefully kept out of the conversation.