Does Iran represent a serious nuclear threat? Israel’s defense minister and several former Mossad directors say no. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, like Israeli intelligence, is not convinced Iran has decided to build a weapon. Even leading American neoconservatives acknowledge that a nuclear Iran (if such came to be) would not attack Israel, which has its own nukes, much less the United States.

Then why the march to war? The U.S. and Israeli governments will not tolerate limits on their hegemony in the Middle East.

Iran is a big, populous, and long-existing country that inevitably will be a major force in the region. Therefore, U.S. and Israeli dominance requires a subservient Iran – like the brutal U.S.- and Israeli-sponsored Shah’s regime was until it was overthrown in the Islamic revolution of 1979.

To repeat: nothing is more urgent than stopping this march to war against Iran. Let’s make Feb. 4 the day it was reversed.

Sheldon Richman is senior fellow at The Future of Freedom Foundation (www.fff.org) and editor of The Freeman magazine. The Future of Freedom Foundation (FFF) is a nonprofit libertarian advocacy group based in Fairfax, Va.