Fool Me Once, Shame on You. Fool Me Twice, Shame on Me.

James Fallows, writing in The Atlantic, reminds us that this month is the tenth anniversary of the second Iraq War, the biggest strategic error by the United States since at least the end of World War II and perhaps over a much longer period. Yet despite that error (and full disclosure - I was for the war at the time) the Very Serious People who advocated that war are not discredited. In fact, they are running around telling all who will listen that Iran is a threat equal to or greater than Iraq.

As Scotty in Star Trek told me, "fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." Thus, I am greatly skeptical of how serious a threat Iran will be. After all, if they were truly suicidal, and hence not deterrable, they would have intervened against us in Iraq and/or Afghanistan. (By "intervened," I mean more than sending a few weapons to the local resistance.)

There are a lot of threats to America. We really need to prioritize them.