Wow, called evil by a former Soviet general, that really hurts.
I wonder if he will be fired for citing BS intelligence in public when the promised American attack fails to materialize.
While I don't subscribe to the conspiracy theory that the US is about to attack Iran, make no mistake that its involvement in Iraq completely eliminates a military strike as an option. Of course, that doesn't mean that there would not be domestic and international diplomatic consequences for a strike, but it is possible.
I would not hold my breath for a treaty obligating Russia to defend Iran. I do see every effort to make the former Soviet "republics" entirely dependant on mother Russia again, but inclusion of Iran would only be as a puppet, something I suspect Iran has no intention of becoming despite Russian desires.
The construction of a Russian naval base in the Persian Gulf would be fun to watch. I would love to see how well Iran tolerates a bunch of drunk Russian sailors running around Chah Bahar or Bandar Abbas. Russians are famous for their cultural sensitivity for Muslims
It would be nice to see the Russian Navy capable of conducting sustained global operations again. The US would probably be able to find many areas where we can cooperate, like during RIMPAC 2008 or more Search and Rescue operations. Why would Russia want to place Russian lives at risk defending Iran again? I must have missed that...
You are right on one thing, the U.S. will continue to have an intervensionist foreign policy. Both parties agree on that, even if they don't agree on where to intervene. That does not mean the democrats (or even McCain) is likely to conduct military strikes on Iran, but neither will they go to Tehran and apologize for all past sins and start handing out nuclear reactor and hard currency either...
