Pacific Views

As if Dubya's sabre-rattling against Iran wasn't enough to worry about.

Try on these two words: Accidental war.

Tensions between the United States and Iran have risen to the point where a war could be kicked off by mistake, an outcome that neither Tehran nor Washington wants, U.S. military officials and private analysts say.

A U.S. military official here likened the current U.S.-Iran standoff to the buildup in hostility in Europe before World War I, when a duke's assassination triggered a tragic war that engulfed a continent.

"A mistake could be made and you could end up in something that neither side ever really wanted, and suddenly it's August 1914 all over again," the U.S. officer said on condition of anonymity, because of the sensitivity of the issue. "I really believe neither side wants a fight."

Via International Herald Tribune.

Posted by Magpie at January 30, 2007 10:06 AM | Iran | Technorati links |