No subject

Russians were scheduled to ship fuel rods to the Iranian nuclear reactor in
Bushehr, which meant the reactor would become operational by this November,
at which point it would be impossible to bomb -- the fallout alone would
turn the city into an urban Chernobyl. The White House was seriously
considering a preemptive attack when the Russians cooled things down by
saying Iran hadn't paid its bills, so they would hold back the Bushehr fuel
rods for a while.

That put things into a summer lull. But by August, tensions were rising
again. U.S. troops in Baghdad arrested an official delegation of Iranian
energy experts, leading them out of a hotel in blindfolds and handcuffs.
Then Iran said that it had paid its bills and that the Russians were ready
to deliver the Bushehr shipment. In Time magazine, former CIA officer and
author Robert Baer quoted a highly placed White House official:

"IEDs are a casus belli for this administration. There will be an attack on
Iran."

Mann steps back out on the deck and starts collecting the scattered toys to
prepare the house for a dinner party, the typical modern American mother
multitasking her way through a busy day. "The reason I have to be so careful
now is that I'm legally on notice and they will prosecute things that I say
or do," she says, picking up a plastic truck.

"Because of that one article?"

"Yeah."

Outside, it's getting warmer. There's a heavy haze and floating bugs and for
a moment it feels a bit ominous, a gathering silence, one of those moments
when giant pods start to sprout in local basements.

"We're tired," Mann says. "Nobody listens."

It seems inconceivable to her that once again a war could be coming, and
once again no one is listening. Another pair of lawn mowers joins the chorus
and the spell breaks. A cab pulls in the driveway. The caterer comes to
prepare for the dinner guests.