US Defense Secretary: Iran could be within a year of a nuclear weapon

It’s been a busy week for Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. After declaring victory in Iraq and Libya he flew to Israel to announce that Iran could be within a year of having a nuclear bomb.

We’ve all heard that one before. In fact, we’ve been hearing it more or less continuously for at least twenty years. Does Panetta have any new information to justify trotting this old chestnut out yet again?

Apparently not. Panetta’s speech was full of the usual qualifiers; “if” this and “maybe” that and a couple of more “ifs”.

But one things for sure. If we get intelligence information that Iran is trying to build a bomb, they are “crossing a red line” and “no options are off the table”.

The attack on Iran will have nothing to do with what Iran does, of course. The “intelligence” will magically appear when the time is right, just as it did before the Iraq invasion. The important consideration is how and when can the next war be most effectively sold to the American public?

Hmm… we’ve freed up some manpower now what with the Iraq draw-down. Obama isn’t doing that well in the polls and the public could be ready for a new distraction.

Is it time to look at those oil futures?