The March Toward Iran

"They have taken the bridge and the second hall. We have
barred the gates but cannot hold them for long. The ground
shakes. Drums. Drums fill the deep. We cannot get out.
The shadow moves in the dark. It is coming…"
New Steps by U.S. Against Iranians:

The Bush administration will announce a long-debated policy of new sanctions against Iran on Thursday, accusing the elite Quds division of the Revolutionary Guard Corps of supporting terrorism, administration officials said Wednesday night.

The administration also plans to accuse the entire Revolutionary Guard Corps of proliferating weapons of mass destruction, the officials said. While the United States has long labeled Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism, the decision to single out the Guard reflects increased frustration in the administration with the slow pace of diplomatic negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Both designations will put into play unilateral sanctions intended to impede the Revolutionary Guard and those who do business with it. This is the first time that the United States has taken such steps against the armed forces of any sovereign government.

Meanwhile, ABC news reports that "$88 million to modify B-2 stealth bombers so they can carry a newly developed 30,000-pound bomb called the massive ordnance penetrator, or, in military-speak, the MOP" has been folded into the administration's $196 billion emergency funding request for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with a one-line explanation for the request that it's in response to "an urgent operational need from theater commanders." Since there's no obvious target in Iraq or Afghanistan requiring a stealth bomber with that much fire power, defense analysts say "the most likely target for this bomb would be Iran's flagship nuclear facility in Natanz, which is both heavily fortified and deeply buried."

Superb.

Why do I get the feeling that Bush is far less interested in avoiding World War III than starting it?