Ratcheting up

Why designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization? Trita Parsi says it conveniently pulls the rug out from the diplomatic track and helps solidify a "paradigm of enmity" for the future.

On a related front, Gareth Porter suggests recent moves by Cheney and his neocon claque are intended "to provoke an Iranian retaliation that would then make it possible to unleash a full-fledged strategic air attack against Iran."