May 17, 2007: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has declared victory over the United States. Since the U.S. is hardly likely attack Iran, he can proclaim a victory and look good. That's because he's under pressure at home. Apparently he's fallen out with the religious extremists as well as the moderates. He offended his Islamic conservative supporters recently when he kissed the gloved hand of one of his former teachers, and was captured on video. The woman's got to be 70 or so, but it didn't matter with the wackos, and they are calling for Ahmadinejads head. The moderates never liked him, mainly because Ahmadinejad was known to be close to Islamic scholars who believed democracy is un-Islamic. So these days, Ahmadinejads best friend is his publicist, who helps him get photo ops showing the beleaguered president acting heroic and victorious. It's all for show, but it's all Ahmadinejads got at the moment.

The downside of this is that, if Ahmadinejad gets desperate to deal with his domestic enemies, he may authorize a missile attack on U.S. warships or aircraft, hoping to bring an American counterattack, which would rally Iranians around him, at least temporarily. If Iranian missiles should damage American ships or aircraft, it's bonus time, and headline pictures of Ahmadinejad handing out medals.