JUST SAW THIS POST over at Intel Dump on the ever more probable war with Iran. All I can say is, Wow.

This [article at ABC News about shipments of bombs intercepted at the border of Iran and Iraq] scares the hell out of me. It should scare the hell out of you, too.

I said in a pre-invasion editorial in November 2002:

Success against the Iraqi military is a certainty, and thus the President's call for "regime change" is bound to happen if we invade. We need to be certain, however, that such a change would result in a safer world. That is the test for success, not removing Saddam. Ralph Waldo Emerson noted that men don't ride events, events ride the man. The war could (and probably would) have consequences beyond what most of us can predict now. The eminent military philosopher Carl von Clausewitz cautioned that when preparing for war political leaders should never take the first step until they know their last. If war with Iraq is worth U.S. blood and treasure it is worth establishing and articulating a desired political end and a plan for the political consolidation of our military success. We must not take the first step until we have thought our strategy through to the last step, until we understand all the risks and rewards. This has not been done.

Anybody feel safer as a result of our invasion of Iraq? And no, running like scared rabbits and leaving Iraq to fall into chaos will not make us safer either -- the "pull out now" crowd has also not thought their strategy through to the last step, and obviously they do not understand all the risks and rewards.

And, incredibly, Bush was re-elected based on the impression that he was better at national security. War with Iran is now increasingly likely, and war with Iran risks the very survival of our republic. All because 19 guys with box-cutters flew some planes into some buildings, and people who have never known fear got scared.

Well now they have something to be scared about. And Osama must praise Allah that Bush was our president on 9/11.

Unless there's been some linking snafu at Intel Dump, J.D. Henderson is Phillip Carter, who writes at Slate. Either way, his writing needs to be read.