Well, it’s Armageddon+1 and things look pretty much about the same here in the Valley of the Sun as they did a day or two ago. Nevertheless, it would be stupid – if not reckless – to take one’s eye off the ball and think the tensions with Iran have diminished one iota. For my mind, things in the Middle East seem way too quiet, considering it was only a little over a week ago the Israelis and Hezbollah were going at it tooth and nail. Given the current uneasy post-conflict situation that exists, it wouldn’t take much to heat things up again.

So, here’s some items to consider re: Iran, lest you get too comfy in that observer’s chair:

* Thomas Sowell’s column at Real Clear Politics ought to scare the bejeezus outta you, as it did me. Putting the current tensions in a historical context, this part of his column says it all:

Do we understand that the world will never be the same after hate-filled fanatics gain the ability to wipe whole American cities off the face of the earth? Do we still imagine that they can be bought off, as Israel was urged to buy them off with “land for peace” — a peace that has proved to be wholly illusory?

Even ruthless conquerors of the past, from Genghis Khan to Adolf Hitler, wanted some tangible gains for themselves or their nations — land, wealth, dominion. What Middle East fanatics want is the destruction and humiliation of the west.

Their treatment of hostages, some of whom have been humanitarians serving the people of the Middle East, shows that what the terrorists want is to inflict the maximum pain and psychic anguish on their victims before killing them.

Once these fanatics have nuclear weapons, those victims can include you, your children and your children’s children.

Yikes. As Dean Barnett at HughHewitt.com adds, “Read the whole thing, and share it with your friend with the two year old Kerry/Edwards bumper-sticker that stubbornly adheres to his Volvo. He’s the one who really needs to read it.”

* Mario Loyola, writing at NRO’s Corner blog, doesn’t believe we’ve reached the point of no return with Iran just yet, but we’re getting pretty close:

The pilot facilities where Iran continues to enrich Uranium are too small to produce a weapons-usable quantity of weapons-grade uranium within many years. On the other hand, once the commercial-scale enrichment cascade now under construction at the Natantz complex is completed, Iran might be able to start enriching enough uranium for several weapons a year in a matter of months. In sum, Iran has now committed another serious breach of the nonproliferation treaty, but we have not yet gotten to the point of no return….

* Conservative columnist Walter Williams for once writes something I can say I agree with: that is, wondering how different a previous war might have turned out if the West’s weak-kneed appeasers held as much sway over popular opinion as they appear to nowadays:

After the battle of Midway, and the long string of Japanese defeats in the Pacific, including Guam, Okinawa and the Philippines, had today’s Americans been around, they’d be willing to negotiate with Japan for peace, pointing to the additional loss of lives if we continued the war. More than likely they would have made the same argument in 1945, when German defeat was imminent. Of course, had there been a peace agreement with Japan and Germany, all it would have achieved would have been to give them time to recoup their losses and resume their aggression at a later time, possibly equipped with nuclear weapons.

Williams’ closing summary is dead-on: “Anyone who thinks current Western appeasement efforts will get Iran to end its nuclear weapons program and end its desire to eliminate Israel is dumber than dumb. Appeasement will strengthen Iran’s hand, and it looks as if the West, including the United States, is willing to be complicit in that strengthening.”

Make no mistake about it: whether it is weeks, months, or years – unless an internal civil uprising within Iran sends its wacko leadership into hiding or eclipse – there is a day of reckoning ahead for Iran and the West. How it starts and where it goes remains uncertain, but what is certain is that day will most surely come.

A final note: Let’s not forget that FOX News’ Steve Centanni and Olaf Wiig remain held in captivity by a heretofore unknown Islamic group known as the Holy Jihad Brigades. The fact they’re being shown on Al-Jazeera, while welcome because it shows they’re both still alive, is NOT good news for their long-term health and well-being. Please keep them and their families in your prayers for their safe return. Michele is making sure their plight is not forgotten.