It didn’t take long before Iran was in the news again. A US drone surveillance plane was apparently fired upon by Iranian planes on November 1. The Pentagon assures the public, after the election, that the drone was flying over international waters at all times. How can we verify this info, given it’s certainly part of a secret program? Ok, we’ll take their word for it. Now, for a moment only, let’s imagine China or Iran having drones over international waters West of San Diego or East of Florida… A nightmare… So, let’s go back to the role media like the NYT play as bed fellows of the Pentagon, as in “embedded” media. Under the politico-rhetorical pretext of questioning the propriety of revealing a bit of delicate military information only after the election, both the Pentagon and the media are showing again how willing they are to keep the war against Iran going. I call it a war, because this is what we’d call it if we ourselves were subject to a punishing financial stranglehold, a commercial and technological blockade, and surrounded by hostile forces (in the Persian Gulf, in Irak, in the Indian Ocean, and in Afghanistan). Iran is an enemy since the hostage crisis of 1979-81. When Iran was under the Shah regime and its police surveillance, an Iranian nuclear program didn’t look like a problem. How will the US back off without losing influence, and especially without denting the basis for its huge military budget?