Sound the war bells, grab your gear, and prepare to man the bombers, fellow Americans: the dirty nation of IRAN has wiped its shit-stained bootheel upon our national sovereignty, in the following manner: they shot at one of our spy drones. We say it was outside of Iranian territory; they dispute that. Either way, the strong, muscular foreign policy view of this must be: Hey, That Was Ours, And We Must Escalate Into All Out War, Or We Might Look Weak. From The Guardian:

Western officials are concerned that minority elements on both sides of the confrontation in the region have a vested interest in triggering such a clash. Some Israeli leaders would like to see Washington drawn in so that superior US forces could strike a crippling blow to Iranian nuclear facilities, while a "war party" in Tehran sees a conflict as a means of rallying support for the regime and cracking down yet further on dissent, officials say.

They believe the risk of a "spoiler" incident will rise if a new diplomatic push aimed at reaching a peaceful settlement of the Iranian nuclear crisis appears to show progress.

Listen closely to every pundit, politician, and leader as they discuss this touchy incident. If they insist on taking a hard line that will cause this minor confrontation to escalate drastically, know that they are insane "tough." Willingness to start avoidable wars is a hallmark of toughness.

How dare a sovereign foreign country try to stop us from spying on them? Why, shooting down a drone rightly owned by someone else is the act of a petty, freedom-hating despot! Read the Constitution, some time.

[Photo: AP]