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in Iraq. However, the Democrats continued to pay lip service to ending the war and Senator Barack Obama won the Democratic nomination for president based on promises for change and to end the war within a first term. By the time Obama visited Iraq, al-Maliki was under growing internal pressure to put a time limit to American combat troop deployments in Iraq and Bush and al-Maliki agreed to remove the American GIs by the end of 2011. Senator McCain, the Republican nominee for president, had suggested troops could remain 100 years or longer, but he has been quiet about the Bush/al-Maliki agreement. If McCain is elected, would he abide by the Bush agreement to withdraw? Ironically, that timeline is consistent with Obama's strategy.

The neo-con and Zionist pressure groups have meanwhile been advocating pre-emptive, unilateral strikes on Iran, based on innuendo and fear of Iran following Israel's example of surreptitiously developing nuclear weapons capabilities. Iran is perhaps the Iraqi government's closest ally after America, despite the historical US-Iran antagonism. Israel bombed a nuclear power plant being built in Saddam's Iraq and another rumored project in Syria, both apparently without repercussion to itself. However, Iran vows to punish Israel mercilessly for any military strikes it sustains. The Israelis debate use of nuclear weapons against Iran, based on purported Iranian threats that amount to mis-translations. Since Iraq lies in between Iran and Israel, it feels that it would be pulled into any such conflict and unlike the Israelis, Iraq has no taste for more war. America has assured Iraq that it will not sanction Israeli use of Iraqi facilities or airspace to attack Iran.

In June of 2008, the Israeli Air Force conducted a training mission of approximately the same distance as Iran lies from Israel and press reports indicated that it was a practice drill for pre-emptive strikes. Then, in August, Russian intervention in the Georgian attempt to exert control over South Ossetia, resulted in Russia invading Georgia proper and causing damage to two air fields that had been prepared for use by Israel, potentially to strike Iran, a de facto ally of Russia. In America, although the mass media has quieted its speculation for an October surprise, the alternative press on the internet continues to warn that the risk of unilateral strikes on Iran before the US 11/5 election remains high, particularly if Obama continues to appear likely to win. Although support

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