As Tom Joscelyn observes, news reports make clear that Iran is still helping to kill American soldiers, just as it did in Iraq:

So Iran was, according to an ISAF intelligence report, paying bounties for dead Americans in 2005. And in 2010 nothing has changed – except the price ($1,740 vs. $1,000). Throughout much of this time, we’ve heard over and over again that Iran could never, ever work with the Taliban because the two hate each other and theological differences preclude collusion. That has never been true. Their hatred of America trumps their animosity for each other.

Neither the Bush administration nor the Obama administration has done anything about this. Both failed to “contain” a non-nuclear Iran as it and its Hamas and Hezbollah clients flexed their muscles, making clear there was little (no?) price to be paid for killing Americans and our allies.

The Obama team mulls whether or not to deploy a “military option” against Iran. (We at least hope that they are mulling and that the talk of keeping all options on the table is not entirely fraudulent.) In other words, should we defend our troops, prevent an aggressive, jihadist state from acquiring weapons of mass destruction, and ensure that America does not suffer a blow to our stature and credibility? The Obama team finds it very hard to answer in the affirmative. After all, it sounds like another open-ended commitment.