Other than OJ, the missing pretty white girl du jour (none that I know of, but I have faith... there must be one), and whatever Britney Spears has done lately, is Iran what Americans are all talking about?? And do they really think Iran is a credible threat and we should go to war with them?? WTF?

Never mind that we've already utterly destabilized the entire region by invading Iraq...

Never mind that our occupation resulted in the death of an estimated 1 million Iraqis...

Never mind that we're coming up on 4000 American troop deaths in Iraq...

Never mind that thousands of men and women have come home to America physically and mentally altered forever...

Never mind that those men and women are not receiving adequate care upon returning home...

Never mind that Osama bin Laden is still out there (and he has a MUCH higher approval rating than Bush or America among Pakistanis)...

Never mind that we've spent hundreds of billions on this stupid boondoggle...

Never mind that the huge deficits we've created provide an excuse for the right to cut funds for our social safety net...

Never mind that New Orleans was wiped off the map two years ago and we still haven't done what's needed there...

Never mind that we know damn well there were NO WMDs...

Never mind the Downing Street Memo came out so long ago that most of us have forgotten about it...

Never mind our government used "the war on terror" as an excuse to repeal the Magna Carta...

Never mind that 70+% of Americans oppose the war in Iraq...

Never mind that our troops have gone on multiple rotations to Iraq, many with substandard equipment while there, and we've extended the military to the breaking point...

Never mind ALL OF THAT - which I would consider to be a LONG LIST OF REASONS why we should NOT GO TO WAR ANYWHERE right now -

Iran is NOT a serious threat and there is NO case for war.

How would Americans respond if someone suggested randomly that we bomb Tahiti? Or Canada? How about Greece? Or why not Thailand? Mali? Uruguay? Can Americans even find these places on the map? We've got no reason to go to war with any one of them - and we have no more reason to go to war with Iran.

Do we agree with Iran on every issue? Of course not. Of course we don't. But we don't agree with MANY countries on MANY issues. And a disagreement is not a case for war.

Do we like Iran's government? Nope. Not a bit. But how many other countries have craptastic governments? And many of them are our allies. To name two: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

Could Iran have nukes some day? Yep. Some day. Not yet. But guess what? Pakistan has them now. And remember what I said about Pakistanis liking Osama better than they like us. And still, we call them an ally.

Does Iran contain Muslim extremists? You bet. And so does the UK, Germany, the U.S., Indonesia, and countries all over the world. For the record, most countries also contain peace-loving Muslims as well.

Here in the U.S., I count many devout Muslims among my good friends. We're talking Koran-reading, Urdu- and Arabic-speaking, scarf-wearing, brown-skinned Muslims who abstain from drinking alcohol, fast during Ramadan, and have arranged marriages. Yep, arranged marriages. And they are my good friends. They have NO desire to commit any sort of violence or interfere with the government or the safety of the United States in any way. On the contrary, several are doctors. One's a biology teacher. They save American lives and educate American children.

On one radio show tonight (I'm not sure which), a guest said the best prevention for war with Iran would be to fly each American to Iran for a visit. I bet he's right. I haven't been there - the closest I've gotten are Turkey, Israel, and Egypt - but I've been to about 20 countries and everywhere I've been, people are the same.

Cultures differ GREATLY. Even the British are significantly culturally different from us. And the differences between US and the UK culture pale in comparison to the differences between American and Chinese culture. But overall, beyond that, people are people. They want to live their lives in peace. Go to work, come home, care for their families, hang out with their friends, that's all anyone wants.

For those who thought a war would bring some excitement, well, we've got two now. Are they exciting? It's every bit as brutal and bloody and horrific as the history books warned us it would be. Why anyone would advocate any war of any kind is beyond me, but then again, I don't understand why Jeffrey Dahmer killed and ate people either.

If I had the ability to speak to every American - and I wish I did - I want to tell them: There is no threat from Iran, not one that even requires discussing war or considering war. Forget Iran.