Our hope is that some of these European countries will sit Iran down and say "Look, you're about to get half Iraq for your very own. Why rock the boat? Stop this nuclear program for a year or two and we'll give you our oil contracts - and we will help you keep this goddamn American cowboy from invading you in order to crock his country's November elections."

However, the Euro countries have a very long career - 60 years now? - of saying "Yes, yes. Hear, hear!" and then waiting for the idiot U.S. to spend blood and treasury to do the job for them. So, the chances of them doing nothing are quite good.

And, as Bushco desperately, desperately needs some propping up of the wartime excuse, and never objests to any chance for some no-bid cost-plus contracts, it's a lock that unrestrained Bushco will do something military.

Will Israel participate? Hard to say. Sharon is not at the helm. The great point to the Way of the Neocon for Israel was that it was the US carrying out Israel's interests at US expense. Why stop that now? The other hand is that Iran is the loudest of the sabre-rattlers vs Israel right now.

In the end, it's this : A gambler on a streak thinks it will last forever. As long as it does last, he looks brilliant. Bushco has been on a long streak, making big bilk profit and corporate-written legislation, not being held accountable for screwups, limping along through a bad war on the cheap, not being hit again with terror incidents despite doing the cube root of squat to prevent same.

All streaks end. Right now the problem is trying to get the Big Hat - No Cattle gambler away from the table while America still has its pants.