...just waiting to be extinguished by their own stupidity. What are you doing in Australia? They need you with them...LOL!!!

What actually destroyed Persia is their endless war with the GReeks . Their new match for regional,hegemony is Israel .

It's called deterrence. If the enemy gets the idea he's going to lose, he's less likely to attack. I realize that this principle has been warped by the phenomenon of the suicide bomber and terrorists who surely must realize that they'll be killed, but it still applies to rational nations (Iran isn't fully rational). One problem is that the Lebanese government doesn't control Hezbolla, and Hezbolla apparently doesn't care how much suffering it would bring to the Lebanese.

Israel did not need USA in its first 3 major wars and does not need you now, The USA sent equipment to Israel in 1973 for the same reason they begged Israel to stand down in Desert Storm. The USA was afraid to watch Israel handle it alone. The results would have been very different for Israels enemies.

1. I am not always too sure how wise it is to publish articles like these unless it is designed to scare and warn our enemies. 2. The second paragraph with a short sketch of what might happen ".... and then a truce and relative calm for several years thanks to the restored deterrence". Not good enough although it takes world opinion into account which maybe should be ignored for a change and give the world a fait accompli. It is no good letting our enemies survive to fight another day. They come back stronger and better armed every time thanks to Iran, Russia etc. Defeat and total complete defeat with unconditional surrender once and for all is a far better solution, after which their societies need to be remade. Follow the example of the Allies after WWII with Japan and Germany.