In our existing geo-political arena, there are only a handful of countries that benefit greatly from having these heightened tensions. Can you guess which two countries benefit the most from these tensions? Russia and Iran. Both are huge exporters of oil and at least one of them is unfriendly to the US - the other is somewhat neutral at this point. Putin's power, control, and popularity has been directly related to the price of oil. In your mind, would it continue to benefit Russia(Putin) if the price of oil dropped? Of course not! Which is why I believe we will continue to see rhetoric from Iran and Russia over Iran's "alleged" nuclear weapon's program. The US is simply helping these countries by inflating oil futures by saying there is a possibility of military strikes on Iran. I'm not sure if this is just dumb, stubborn Bush trying to keep to his word about regime change in Iran, or if there is another angle involved. If it is dumb Bush, I wonder if he realizes that he is directly responsible for these countries becoming wealthier than ever before. It is also in Iran's best interest to keep the rhetoric up on their end as well. The US started it, they are merely helping it along. All it is is words. Words that make the price of oil skyrocket. Imagine if we could get a fatter paycheck if we just said, "I want a bigger paycheck, I want a bigger paycheck." This is exactly what is happening in Iran right now. Only the words are: Israel. Nuclear rights. Great Satan. Little Satan. and on and on and on. Anytime the threat of WW3 is mentioned or anytime a major news article says that Iran is only months away from developing a nuclear bomb, the price of oil inches up. How messed up is that?
If the US were to declare permanent peace with Iran and open their arms to trading with them, the price of oil would plummet. As would the profits that goes into their pockets as well. Who knows what the real reasons are for the US's continued presence and nation building in the middle east is for.
The worst scenario I see in the US is this: The US or Israel attacks Iran pre Jan. '09. Iran does their thing and essentially hoses up the world's supply of oil. Gas stations in the US either jack the cost up way too high, or they run out. This causes mass panic and chaos. Bush declares martial law under the Insurrection Act or Exectutive Directive 51 and maintains power indefinitely. This allows him and his chums to do whatever they please, however they please. I wouldn't be surprised to find myself and other likeminded individuals being confined to the new Halliburton built "camps" across the US. That's what happens when our "elected" representatives give the president carte blanche to do whatever he pleases in the form of support for these bills.