The magazine Foreign Affairs just published an article by Matthew Kroenig, former SecDef advisor on Iranian nuclear weapons, titled "Time to Strike Iran." Kroenig briefly presents the options (all of them bad) and then writes:

"The truth is that a military strike intended to destroy Iran's nuclear program, if managed carefully, could spare the region and the world a very real threat and dramatically improve the long-term national security of the United States."

Foreign Affairs has now turned a full 180 degrees on Iran. A number of other public sources are saying that something decisive will happen in the next few months.

Prediction: A "US plus allied" assault on Iranian air, space and sea capabilities, with the aim of protecting all of Iran's neighbors who feel threatened by Tehran -- which means all of them. An air-sea blockade to shut off trade in both directions, to and from Iran. Selective deep-penetration bombings of strategic targets. Extensive sabotage, following the recent bombings near Tehran and Isfahan that destroyed an estimated 400 missiles, killing the chief of Iran's missile program, and nearly killing Ahmadinejad and Khamenei. Jamming of government propaganda broadcasts, cyberwarfare, and perhaps conventional electrical pulse weapons to destroy power grids for underground facilities.

Israel, Saudi Arabia and Turkey will publicly stay out of the battle, but they will be actively involved, as long as they can protect their home territories from incoming Iranian missiles.

The aim will be the overthrow of Ayatollah Khamenei and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to be replaced by saner members of the regime, including mullahs who are not Khomeini followers. Every effort will be made to avoid a ground invasion, but Iranian conventional assaults on neighboring countries will be repelled.

Israel will place its main efforts on home defense, having to deal with tens of thousands of missiles stationed in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza. All of Iran's neighbors will provide some intelligence assets.

No sane country in the region wants the mullahs to have nuclear weapons, which could be turned at will against Turkey, Israel, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Israel. Within a few years Iranian missiles will be able to reach most of Europe. Nobody wants that, certainly not the Arab countries.

Two political points.

First, Obama will benefit domestically from a successful action against Iran.

Second, Obama's three years of brinkmanship on a nuclear Iran is still unbelievably irresponsible. No real statesman would ever have allowed things to get this close to total disaster. You don't play the game of chicken with nuclear rogues.

That is just one more reason to vote Obama out of office next year.