I don't know if I should laugh or cry...

In Iowa yesterday, Bush proclaimed that he has made 'America Safer'(tm).  Further, he went on to say that he would make America 'even safer' if he received a second mandate from the public.

After reading that the US is 'investigating Iran's connections with 9/11', I can't help but wonder if Iran is the next thing on Bush's little 'list of slights against his honour'.  After all, Iranians rose up and deposed the US-backed Shah in 1980, and then proceeded to hold American embassy staff hostage for close to two years.

The American Government has also been rattling sabres at Iraq's other neighbor - Syria for quite some months.  (e.g.  shortly after Saddam Hussein's government had obviously collapsed)

With Iraq slowly turning into a tarpit that threatens to suck down US military and aid resources for the forseeable future, it seems like rather poor election strategy to turn people's attention abroad.  Of course, Bush's record on domestic issues hasn't been terribly promising.  His tenure in office has seen the country's economy struggle along, burgeoning deficit spending, stagnation in the jobs market, and the re-emergence of inflation.  (They don't admit it yet, but then again, the so-called 'consumer price index' that they measure inflation against in the States doesn't include things like gasoline, heating fuel etc.) 

Rattling at Syria and Iran can only serve some cynical purpose in the Bush re-election strategy.  One possible read on it is this - if it starts to look like Bush is going to lose the election, it would work to the Republican's favour if they committed the US to an ongoing conflict in the Middle East - one that the next president couldn't extricate themselves from if they tried.  That would be one possible reason for going after Iran - a country which is likely to be orders of magnitude harder to invade and occupy than Iraq.  (for starters, Iran hasn't spent the last decade suffering under UN embargo)  Of course, one could also argue that Iraq already serves that purpose - as the country seems to be teetering on the edge of its own civil war.

After the last few years of pugilism coming from the US, it would be nice to see a government that's actually interested in governing the nation rather than starting wars.