Why Iran wants a nuclear deterrent and BushCo is getting antsy.

[brindis_desala]

I know most Americans are fairly ignorant about geopolitics (no fault of their own, the media sucks) but I expect DUers to be more sophisticated. IRAN doesn't want nukes to lob them at Israel.
(And Bush isn't cozy with Musharraf because of bin Laden.)

Here's a good Op-Ed on the neocon's dilemma:
< > snip
A few years later, George Keenan, one of the greatest American diplomats of the 20th century, theorised that unless the U.S. went about securing the Gulf region's oil reserves as "our resources" (rather than "theirs" — Arabs'), its dominance as a world power would not be sustainable.

The dramatic episode in 1945 underscored the centrality of oil in the geopolitics of the 20th century. Equally so, the current rivalries in the Caucasus and Central Asia, known as the "great game," have at their core the U.S.' struggle for controlling the region's oil and gas reserves.

http://www.hindu.com/2005/04/20/stories/2005042002371000.htm

And Big Oil wants to be sure it gets get what it paid for:
http://www.chevron.com/news/spotlight/05april2003_honor.asp