The threat no one believes

It is now a matter of certainty that Iran has entered the war in Iraq and is killing U.S. soldiers.

More than a week ago, CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden said deadly homemade bombs known as "explosive formed projectiles (EFPs) are coming from Iran. They are being used against our forces. They are capable of defeating some of our heaviest armor, and incident for incident cause significantly more casualties than any other improvised explosive devices do, and they are provided to Shia militia."

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Philip Zelikow, until recently a senior adviser to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said intelligence reporting shows "Iran has authorized its people to kill Americans, and that is a grave matter."

Of course, there will continue to be some who insist there is no proof. There will always be such people – especially in wartime.

The same kind of people told us there was no proof the Nazis were systematically murdering Jews.

The same kind of people told us there was no proof Josef Stalin was systematically murdering his own people.

Who are the people in denial today?

They are the people who have invested so much in the Bush-as-liar theory of the world. Bush lied, kids died. That's their worldview. There are no real enemies in the world today – except for Bush.

They believe Bush tricked Americans into going to war in Iraq – probably by orchestrating the attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.

Therefore, nothing he says should be believed. If his CIA director finds Iran is deliberately killing Americans there are only two possibilities:

• he's lying, again;

• these American deaths in Iraq serve a greater purpose – ultimately leading to a withdrawal of all U.S. troops from the Middle East.

Bush lied about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, they say. He can't be trusted any more about anything.

And, ultimately, this is why Iran will be successful at chasing American troops from the Persian Gulf. They won't be successful because they have superior forces. They won't be successful because American troops aren't up to the job. They won't be successful because their cause is just. They will be successful because people back here in the United States cannot see the forest for the trees.

Let me tell you the consequences of this impending defeat in Iraq.

Iran will be emboldened by its "victory." Many in the superstitious Shiite nation will see this as a supernatural sign from Allah. To them, it will be an indication the Mahdi, the messianic Shiite figure, is about to appear on the world stage.

A nuclear-armed Iran, now feeling invincible after a showdown with "the Great Satan," will attempt to use its new arsenal against America and the West. They may do so through the use of terrorist proxies. They may attempt to do so with an offshore attack using crude Scud missiles – perhaps even with an effort to produce an electromagnetic pulse that wipes out America's electrical grid and the circuit boards that represent the lifeblood of our technology society.

All I know is this – no good can come of backing down in the face of deadly attacks on our soldiers in Iraq. No good can come from appeasement. No good can come from looking the other way and pretending these attacks are not happening. No good can come from letting Iran get away with murder.

This is the predicament Americans have placed us in today – Americans like Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, John Kerry, Ted Kennedy, John Warner and Chuck Hagel.

Bush is not without culpability for his inept effort in conducting the war. But these Americans actively doing the bidding of our enemies deserve a special place in the history books of betrayal and cowardice.

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"Showdown with Nuclear Iran"