On a silver platter

If you hand or give something on a silver platter to someone, you let them have it too easily. The question must be asked - have we handed the Middle East to Iran on a silver platter. After billions of dollars spent on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and thousands of American lives lost, Iran is poised to reap the benefits of our sacrifices when we inevitably leave the field of battle and finally admit that nation building in the Middle East bears too high a price. As one Arab nation after another rises in revolt against ruling despots, Iran is again on the sidelines like a vulture waiting to feast on the rotting corpses of Muslim nations. Not to despair, the light at the end of the tunnel is that  like many other  nations, Iran will discover that in  gaining alliances in the Middle East it must pay the piper who exacts a high toll. They say that every cloud has a silver lining - the United States will finally bite the bullet and ween itself from its dependence on oil.