Two days from now the Axis of Evil has the chance to really show its stuff. August 22 is the now much-gossipped-about date when Iran’s “reply” to the nuclear demand/bribe package comes due. Military exercises far southeast of Tehran proceed apace. Another North Korean missile test may be in the batter’s circle, too. And what — now that perfidious France has defaulted on its promise to enforce its own Hezbollah resolution — does fate have in store for Lebanon?
Provocation of some sort is a possibility live as a wire. But although some overt act — proving its intentions by non-negotiable fact — would make the great powers a offer of stern unity they may not be able to refuse, we should hew close to prudence instead of passion when it comes to prospects for the now much-gossipped-about World War Three. I, for one, don’t quite buy the rhetoric. And this does not mean things aren’t deadly serious. Further weekend thoughts here.
