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There was no intelligence failure in Iraq, the US intelligence services did exactly what the government intended them to do -- they produced politically convenient summaries that supported the policies the administration had already decided upon, without letting reality get in the way.

The US is doing the same thing in Iran.  They're operating under the assumption that only force is going to stop the Iranians, which must be done because a nuclear Iran is a threat to America.  They need as much information as they can about what sites to target so they can cripple the Iranian nuclear program, after which the threat of American military power will keep Iran in line, and possibly even spark a revolution to depose the current government and replace it with something more friendly and democratic.

All of which is completely wrong.  

A nuclear Iran is more a threat to neo-con aspirations for a friendly Iraq hosting long-term US bases than it is a threat to the US proper.  A nuclear Iran is very much a threat to Israel, however.  

Iran has little reason to fear American military power as they've had a long and visible demonstration of its limits as the US Army exhausts its strength in Iraq.  If Iran wants to retaliate subtlely, they are very well equipped to send operatives into Iraq to foster violence, and to supply support and encouragement to independent groups seeking to oppose the US.  If they want to be overt, it's hard to say how much damage they could do.  The US government seems to be unaware that their new-found borders with Iran work both ways.

The notion that this is going to destabilize the Iranian government is also deeply questionable.  I doubt very much the Iranian people will see this as an attack on their government; I think they'll see it as an attack on them, as an effort by the US to hold Iran down.  

But the US is in a difficult position here, as sooner or later Israel will take matters into its own hands, which has the potential to produce entirely new kinds of ugly.