It appears that many in Congress and some Americans are focused on whether or not President Obama will increase troop strength in Afghanistan. There are many arguments pro and con. Some, like Vice President Biden, say we must fight a war of attrition against Al Qaeda and others, General McChrystal and Defense Secretary Gates, say we must fight a counterinsurgency against the Taliban. President Obama has called the war in Afghanistan "a war of necessity".

I say that Afghanistan should not be our focus. Iran, by necessity, must be.

My good friend, Red County Diarist, and noted national security expert Gary H. Johnson, Jr. wrote a seminal piece titled, "Obama's Acceptance of Iranian Hegemony?". Gary asks:

"Does [President] Obama accept the new Iranian hegemony of the region? Has he pushed for a Israeli-Palestinian peace on the 1967 borders? Has he sought to respect the Iranian state's rights?"

It appears to date that the answers to all of Gary's questions are yes. I believe President Obama and his national security team have accepted that Iran, according to Gary, "is the new superpower on the block." Iran has replaced Israel as the major player in the Middle East. With Iran testing and deploying a nuclear weapon that position will only be reinforced.

So, what is our end game in Afghanistan? What is our end game in the Middle East? What is our end game in Iran?

Let me present a strategy you have not heard discussed because some believe it is both undo able and unthinkable. I believe the real war of necessity is against Iran not Afghanistan. I believe our strategy must be to first destabilize Iran by turning our forces in Iraq and Afghanistan toward Iran while increasing our navel presence off the Iranian coastline to stop the flow of refined petroleum products and other goods necessary to the Iranian economy.

I believe there is a clear and present danger to the U.S. and our interests from Iranian weapons of mass destruction. I believe there is a significant internal distrust and dislike of the existing regime, as demonstrated by the recent election protests in Iran. I believe there is a significant faction in Iran that is pro-West and pro-American. I believe that Iran, like Iraq, is a more friendly battle ground than Afghanistan by playing to our strengths - air power and a conventional military second to none. Afghanistan on the other hand plays to our weaknesses, a diluted nation based on tribalism and a inhospitable terrain. If you don't believe me just ask the Russians.

Iran has the perfect terrain for our military forces. Iran has well developed infrastructure, an intelligent populous, a large population of young people interested in the West and making a career for themselves. Iran also sits on enormous oil reserves that can sustain it in the mid to long term. Afghanistan has none of these things. 

Our military will win any force on force battle against the Republican Guard and those elements of the Iranian Army loyal to the Ayatollahs. Our air power will quickly neuter any Iranian threat from their air or naval forces. A naval blockade coupled with allied military forces poised on both of Iran's boarders would be formidable.

The risks are not as great as the rewards for taking action now, before Iran has fielded a nuclear weapon.

The down side is we will be condemned by Russia and China as imperialists. There will be demonstrations around the world against the United States. Oil prices will sky rocket in the short term while the Iranian regime teeters and finally topples. We will lose soldiers, some aircraft and some naval ships.

The result will be a free and democratic Iran to equal or exceed what we are seeing in Iraq. We will see a nation state that is a stabilizing force in the Middle East rather than the largest state sponsor of terrorism and radical Islam. We will see a victory similar to what we saw in Iraq, with Iraqis joining together to to share in the peace and wealth of that nation.

That is worth any risk, don't you think? Iran is the true war of necessity for the United States and the West.