...yet I've read a number of articles from experts in nuclear proliferation that have stated that the technology now exists to guarantee that, in the event a nuke fell into rogue hands and was set off, the source of that weapon could be traced down exclusively to the country of origin.

Point me to one of these articles.

It was obvious that we would be able track the 9/11 attackers to their nation of origin, too. Did that deter them? You do realize that deterrence doesn't work on lunatics? All it takes is for one leader to get some "ghost shirt" idea about retaliation, and it's too late.

What would I do about Iran? We had covert operations working inside Iran until the American media, in a long-standing policy of sabotaging our military efforts, publicized it. So did Israel. We can continue to support, by encouragement if nothing else, the anti-radical elements in Iran. There are a lot of them.

Continue sanctions, and tighten them. Iranians are already angry about being a major oil producing nation that doesn't seem to have much money, and this will weaken the mandate for militarism.

I'd like to think Obama will stay the course on covert operations and hard line positions. Maybe it will work for him when the media no longer thinks they're obliged to wreck or expose anything the administration does.

Unfortunately, we'll probably end up joining the U.N./European wank festival, and negotiate for the next ten years while Iran does pretty much anything it wants.