Are We Closer to War?

"Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, a U.S. senator from New York, called Fallon a 'sensible voice' that supported 'engaging Iran.' She urged her colleagues to back a bill requiring Bush to get congressional approval before taking any military action against Iran.

"Republican Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska lamented Fallon's departure, saying in an interview with Bloomberg Television that he was 'very concerned to see him go.'"

On the CBS Evening News, David Martin narrated Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates's unscheduled news conference, where Fallon's resignation was announced

Martin: "Secretary Gates insisted Fallon had not been pressured to resign."

Gates: "Admiral Fallon reached this difficult decision entirely on his own."

Martin: "He also insisted Fallon was not the odd man out when it came to war with Iran."

Gates: "We've all talked about all options being on the table, but we've also focused on the importance of pursuing economic and diplomatic pressures against Iran. So I don't think that there really were differences at all."

Martin: "Gates has made no secret he, too, is opposed to war with Iran. But Fallon all but ruled it out, telling Al-Jazeera, 'I expect there will be no war.' So does Fallon's departure clear the decks for another war?"

Gates: "The notion that this decision portends anything in terms of a change in Iran policy is . . . ridiculous."

Martin concludes: "Virtually every senior military officer is opposed to war with Iran. But from now on they might be more cautious about how they say it."

Terry Atlas blogs for U.S. News and World Report with "6 Signs the U.S. May Be Headed for War in Iran." They are: Fallon's resignation, Cheney's trip to the Middle East, the Israeli airstrike on Syria, U.S. warships off Lebanon, Israeli comments and Israel's war with Hezbollah.

Atlas explains each one. Why the Israeli airstrike on Syria, for instance? Atlas writes: "Israel's airstrike deep in Syria last October was reported to have targeted a nuclear-related facility, but details have remained sketchy and some experts have been skeptical that Syria had a covert nuclear program. An alternative scenario floating in Israel and Lebanon is that the real purpose of the strike was to force Syria to switch on the targeting electronics for newly received Russian anti-aircraft defenses. The location of the strike is seen as on a likely flight path to Iran (also crossing the friendly Kurdish-controlled Northern Iraq), and knowing the electronic signatures of the defensive systems is necessary to reduce the risks for warplanes heading to targets in Iran."