— What a concept!

The excerpt comes from a report by a bipartisan group of former top U.S. civilian and military leaders calling itself the Iran Project. It cautions against going to war with Iran over its nuclear program. The group includes deep thinkers including former national security adviser and retired Air Force lieutenant general Brent Scowcroft, former ambassador to Russia Thomas Pickering, and retired Marine general Anthony Zinni, chief of U.S. Central Command.

A solo Israeli campaign will delay Tehran’s nuclear program by only two years, the report estimates. Greater U.S. firepower could push that to four years. “In order to fulfill the stated objective [by both President Obama and GOP challenger Mitt Romney] of ensuring that Iran never acquires a nuclear bomb,” the report says, “the U.S. would need to conduct a significantly expanded air and sea war over a prolonged period of time, likely several years.”