Subscribe to Common Dreams News Updates
Most Popular This Week
Popular content
Today's Top News
Bush 'Plans Iran Air Strike by August'
NEW YORK - The George W Bush administration plans to launch an air strike against Iran within the next two months, an informed source tells Asia Times Online, echoing other reports that have surfaced in the media in the United States recently.
Two key US senators briefed on the attack planned to go public with their opposition to the move, according to the source, but their projected New York Times op-ed piece has yet to appear.
The source, a retired US career diplomat and former assistant secretary of state still active in the foreign affairs community, speaking anonymously, said last week that that the US plans an air strike against the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The air strike would target the headquarters of the IRGC's elite Quds force. With an estimated strength of up to 90,000 fighters, the Quds' stated mission is to spread Iran's revolution of 1979 throughout the region.
Targets could include IRGC garrisons in southern and southwestern Iran, near the border with Iraq. US officials have repeatedly claimed Iran is aiding Iraqi insurgents. In January 2007, US forces raided the Iranian consulate general in Erbil, Iraq, arresting five staff members, including two Iranian diplomats it held until November. Last September, the US Senate approved a resolution by a vote of 76-22 urging President George W Bush to declare the IRGC a terrorist organization. Following this non-binding "sense of the senate" resolution, the White House declared sanctions against the Quds Force as a terrorist group in October. The Bush administration has also accused Iran of pursuing a nuclear weapons program, though most intelligence analysts say the program has been abandoned.
An attack on Iraq would fit the Bush administration's declared policy on Iraq. Administration officials questioned directly about military action against Iran routinely assert that "all options remain on the table".
Rockin' and a-reelin' Senators and the Bush administration denied the resolution and terrorist declaration were preludes to an attack on Iran. However, attacking Iran rarely seems far from some American leaders' minds. Arizona senator and presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain recast the classic Beach Boys tune Barbara Ann as "Bomb Iran". Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton promised "total obliteration" for Iran if it attacked Israel.
The US and Iran have a long and troubled history, even without the proposed air strike. US and British intelligence were behind attempts to unseat prime minister Mohammed Mossadeq, who nationalized Britain's Anglo-Iranian Petroleum Company, and returned Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to power in 1953. President Jimmy Carter's pressure on the Shah to improve his dismal human-rights record and loosen political control helped the 1979 Islamic revolution unseat the Shah.
But the new government under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini condemned the US as "the Great Satan" for its decades of support for the Shah and its reluctant admission into the US of the fallen monarch for cancer treatment. Students occupied the US Embassy in Teheran, holding 52 diplomats hostage for 444 days. Eight American commandos died in a failed rescue mission in 1980. The US broke diplomatic relations with Iran during the hostage holding and has yet to restore them. Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad's rhetoric often sounds lifted from the Khomeini era.
The source said the White House views the proposed air strike as a limited action to punish Iran for its involvement in Iraq. The source, an ambassador during the administration of president H W Bush, did not provide details on the types of weapons to be used in the attack, nor on the precise stage of planning at this time. It is not known whether the White House has already consulted with allies about the air strike, or if it plans to do so.
Sense in the senate Details provided by the administration raised alarm bells on Capitol Hill, the source said. After receiving secret briefings on the planned air strike, Senator Diane Feinstein, Democrat of California, and Senator Richard Lugar, Republican of Indiana, said they would write a New York Times op-ed piece "within days", the source said last week, to express their opposition. Feinstein is a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee and Lugar is the ranking Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee.
Senate offices were closed for the US Memorial Day holiday, so Feinstein and Lugar were not available for comment.
Given their obligations to uphold the secrecy of classified information, it is unlikely the senators would reveal the Bush administration's plan or their knowledge of it. However, going public on the issue, even without specifics, would likely create a public groundswell of criticism that could induce the Bush administration reconsider its plan.
The proposed air strike on Iran would have huge implications for geopolitics and for the ongoing US presidential campaign. The biggest question, of course, is how would Iran respond?
Iran's options Iran could flex its muscles in any number of ways. It could step up support for insurgents in Iraq and for its allies throughout the Middle East. Iran aids both Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Israel's Occupied Territories. It is also widely suspected of assisting Taliban rebels in Afghanistan.
Iran could also choose direct confrontation with the US in Iraq and/or Afghanistan, with which Iran shares a long, porous border. Iran has a fighting force of more than 500,000. Iran is also believed to have missiles capable of reaching US allies in the Gulf region.
Iran could also declare a complete or selective oil embargo on US allies. Iran is the second-largest oil exporter in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and fourth-largest overall. About 70% of its oil exports go to Asia. The US has barred oil imports from Iran since 1995 and restricts US companies from investing there.
China is Iran's biggest customer for oil, and Iran buys weapons from China. Trade between the two countries hit US$20 billion last year and continues to expand. China's reaction to an attack on Iran is also a troubling unknown for the US.
Three for the money The Islamic world could also react strongly against a US attack against a third predominantly Muslim nation. Pakistan, which also shares a border with Iran, could face additional pressure from Islamic parties to end its cooperation with the US to fight al-Qaeda and hunt for Osama bin Laden. Turkey, another key ally, could be pushed further off its secular base. American companies, diplomatic installations and other US interests could face retaliation from governments or mobs in Muslim-majority states from Indonesia to Morocco.
A US air strike on Iran would have seismic impact on the presidential race at home, but it's difficult to determine where the pieces would fall.
At first glance, a military attack against Iran would seem to favor McCain. The Arizona senator says the US is locked in battle across the globe with radical Islamic extremists, and he believes Iran is one of biggest instigators and supporters of the extremist tide. A strike on Iran could rally American voters to back the war effort and vote for McCain.
On the other hand, an air strike on Iran could heighten public disenchantment with Bush administration policy in the Middle East, leading to support for the Democratic candidate, whoever it is.
But an air strike will provoke reactions far beyond US voting booths. That would explain why two veteran senators, one Republican and one Democrat, were reportedly so horrified at the prospect.
Former broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen told America's story to the world as a US diplomat and is author of Hong Kong On Air (www.hongkongonair.com).
© Copyright 2008 Asia Times Online Ltd.
156 Comments so far
Show AllIf that man in the White House gets his way, may Heaven help us all.
Disgusting, foolhardy, abhorent are the first words that come to mind. The nation is already suffering from the misadventure in Iraq. To expand to Iran is beyond folly.
[T]he US plans an air strike against the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The air strike would target the headquarters of the IRGC's elite Quds force.
I never cease to be amazed by the unsurpassed "strategic" stupidity of the USA. Leaving aside all other considerations, there's nothing like telegraphing your moves in advance. Does anyone in his right mind actually believe that such a strike would accomplish anything more than the demolition of vacated buildings?
If Feinstein and Lugar actually come out with such an NYT op-ed, I will be amazed.
We've been hearing about Iran being bombed since 2004(really!). As long as a rumor of war spikes oil prices, or a pipeline being blown up, no bombs will fall. This too is theatre.
I fear George (the purveyor of war, horror and self-serving expliotation) will get away with this. If so -- or when so -- America's ability to reclaim its higher self (domestically and internationally) may very well be beyond the reach of even the best of diplomats and artists of reconciliation. George and his gang delight in lighting fuses that lead to widespread horror and misery. Vile does not begin to express how I feel about this sick group of people who hijacked our country -- and have been permitted, time and again, to get away with what they do.
I just you all to know what fresh hell Bush would be unleashing on the world.
Oil, when it would be made available to Western nations, would be $200+ / bbl.
The entire Middle East would explode in a firestorm of suicide bombings and attacks on US military and diplomatic installations and oil company assets (pipelines, refineries, port facilities and wellheads). Israel would suffer under a wave of violence that would truly be biblical in proportions.
The US economy would slam to a halt as oil imports are cut off by OPEC, and the US dollar collapses as it is discarded like a bloody kleenex. Anti-Bush and anti-American protests would sweep across the world, threatening to topple governments friendly to the Bush junta (Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, UK, Turkey). China and India would swoop in to the world oil market to seize as mush as they could. The military junta of Pakistan would be swept aside. The Saudi royal family would either be in exile or exterminated.
And that is just the opening round.
Gasoline would not be available to the public at ANY price. Food shipments to local markets would stop. Millions of people would be forced out of their jobs, and then homes as the economy collapses.
You think I am being an alarmist? Think that this would never happen?
Dream on.
Today's world is too fragilely interconnected to withstand a WWII style global conflict. The world economy is catastrophically dependent upon oil and it's derivatives, and any MAJOR disruption will have immediate and devastating long term consequences.
The point is not to be militarily effective, Arvy.
The point is to push Iran to retaliate so that the US can claim 'preventive defense' and unleash its horrors with full jingoistic backing from the Murdoch Media and the US sheeple.
Causing turmoil is the strategy. Creating the excuse for martial law, postponing elections.
Oh, and of course saving Israel, but that goes unsaid.
If polls show that people will not rally around McCain, prepare for the latest conservative criminal trick--martial law and cancelling of the elections.
China will be pissed. And didn't Putin say something like "A strike against Iran is a strike against Russia"?
The author of this piece leaves out the "October Surprise" which was back room dealing between Bill Casey of the Reagan campaign and the Iranian revolutionary government. The Reagan campaign made a deal with the Iranians that they would provide them with tires for their F-14 aircraft and other weapons if they would refuse to release the Americans held hostage until Reagan won the election that November and was inaugurated in January of 1981.
The Iranians released the hostages on January 20, 1981, as per the agreement. George H. W. Bush, the current President's father, was seen in Paris at the hotel where the meetings took place with the Iranians to finalize the deal.
So the Reagan/Bush team committed high treason to steal the 1980 election.
See "October Surprise" by Gary Sick. Sick was Carter's National Security adviser for the Middle East. The book is out of print, but many used copies are available, starting at $0.79 here.
Such timing.
Now Iran seems to be balking at the IAEA inspection process:
"Atomic Monitor Signals Concern Over Iran's Work"
By ELAINE SCIOLINO
Published: May 27, 2008
PARIS — The International Atomic Energy Agency, in an unusually blunt and detailed report, said Monday that Iran's suspected research into the development of nuclear weapons remained "a matter of serious concern" and that Iran continued to owe the agency "substantial explanations." link
It's time we demand Congress stop Bush-Cheney from causing further death and destruction.
We, the public, must phone/eMail every member in Congress to get them to take immediate action.
Allowing the mighty duo to continue breaking the law is neither an advantage to Republicans or Democrats. It is an act of terror against American citizens.
A US air strike on Iran would have seismic impact on the presidential race at home, but it's difficult to determine where the pieces would fall.
Marshall Law?
$10 dollar a gallon gas?
An unlimited budget for the military?
Your voice silenced?
If Bush and Cheney are stupid enough to do it, an attack on Iran during the Democratic National Convention will assure a Democratic win in November.
Gas, if available, will be $10 a gallon plus immediately, and the traders in the pit in New York will probably bid it up to over $5 just on this rumor.
The Iranian military has missiles which are capable of destroying U.S. warships, including aircraft carriers. If the U.S. Navy sends planes out to bomb Iran, they may have to divert to landing strips somewhere else, because their carriers and the thousands of sailors on them may not be there when they get back.
locust May 27th, 2008 1:04 pm -- "The point is not to be militarily effective, Arvy."
Point taken. I would submit, however, that any such first strike is also unlikely to succeed in achieving that "strategic" aim -- if not amongst the "US sheeple" then certainly in the broader geopolitical context.
You are a good prophet Galen. Old Testament prophets did hardly more than state what was obviously likely to happen given current conditions. When the shit came down everybody wondered at these wizards' ability to see the future.
Never (probably in the history of the world) has a national leadership been so determined to destroy the country for which they are responsible.
McCain just publicly stated he would do 'whatever it takes' to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons technology.
Bush is throwing his support behind McCain.
Therefore McCain is calling not so subtly for an attack on Iran. He even repeated the now utterly disproven PR line that 'Iran wants to wipe Israel off the map'.
The attack is coming. Bet on it.
...I just wonder what convenient 9/11 style 'terrorist attack' US Military black op will be blamed on Iran to justify this madness.
And you think $4 a gallon is high!
This kind of serious saber-rattling terrorizes not only the ostensible targets, but also the American people however subliminally. Since there is absolutely no geopolitical justification for such a pre-emptive strike on another sovereign nation, one has to consider its potential role for domestic consumption. A sort of wag the dog scenario in which McCain's "credentials" as potential Commander-in-Chief are peddled in a synthetic "crisis" from which it would take us years to recover, if at all.
I am reminded of Charlie Chaplin playing Hitler, tossing the world ball in the air, again and again and again. Cynical madness.
-30-
Galen Said: The entire Middle East would explode in a firestorm of suicide bombings and attacks on US military and diplomatic installations and oil company assets (pipelines, refineries, port facilities and wellheads). Israel would suffer under a wave of violence that would truly be biblical in proportions.
That's the whole point Galen... The instability and chaos generated by an attack on Iran is perfect for ushering in the NWO.
"An informed source" States the Asia times. Hmmmmm??
Here IS "an informed source" who said it publically. ___ Putin. "An attack on Iran is an attack on Russia."
Mr. Cohen listed a number of responses available to the Iranians, but he omitted one of the most effective. Namely, dscarding the dollar and insisting on payment for oil in Euros. Eliminating the petrodollar would help to kick the legs out from under U.S. imperial aggression.
What good is so-called Congressional oversight of classified intelligence and war planning if the elected representatives who get briefed are forbidden to speak out to their colleagues or constituents about what they've been told?
Oversight of this nature simply creates bipartisan Congressional complicity in executive branch wrongdoing.
Bill from Saginaw
Caleb- Iran already uses the Euro to sell it's oil. They have for a couple of years now.
I still don't think this will happen. The powers that be are getting high oil prices, and consumer panic without dropping one bomb! Just keep bringing up Iran every 7-10 days from some well known name with an "ear to the wall", and you still get results. Its been working for 4 years. And many of you on this thread have taken the bait once again, rehashing the same fears. Suckers!
If Iran is attacked, Venezuela will also withhold oil from the United States. Bush's goal appears to be to raise the price of oil as high as possible before leaving office.
I wonder if the White House could be blighted, taken by eminent domain, torn down, and used for a vegetable garden.
Actually, the most dangerous time for Iran--and us--is between 11/05/2008 and 01/20/2009.
All,
Can someone direct me to a document archive where Congress authorized the use of force against Iran? Was I asleep when they did this?
TURNOFFYOURTV
the first thing i did before reading this article was to click on the link to 'asia times'. when i was confronted by no less than 4 flashing pink ads for 'calculate your love compatibility' i became a bit skeptical of the content of this article...............
If this is __factual__ and we do attack iran, we will have our depression earlier than we may envision. If that happens, Bush will declare martial law and enact the Presidential directive #51.
Then we will have what our first Continental Congress desired, ___ a King George. Not the George they wanted however.
WTF, Congress has implicitly authorized this by being Bush's lapdog for the past 7 years. Congress' sorry history on war-related matters has given us every reason to believe that it will roll over for an attack against Iran. Congress doesn't want to be thought soft on terror, especially during an election year, don'cha know. If Congress had any spine, it would pass a resolution, now, specifically UN-authorizing any first strike against Iran. As if. That'll be the day.
I think you're on to something here Doom n Gloom. On the surface this is freakin' weird. This mal-administration is always up to something we can't see. I think you are right about trying to spike oil prices even further. But I don't think that is the only aim.
Bushco has been doing a lot of saber ratteling at Russia for quite some time now. For a number of reasons that I can't quite figure out yet. But Putin has already sent the warning shots over the bow of how Russia will react. I truely believe that these provocations are against Russia (and possibly China), not Iran. Think about it. Reawaken the "big red scare" in America? Think the sheeple will get behind that? Certainly taps into a deeply buried fear of many Americans.
Ever wonder where your peace dividend went when the Berlin Wall came down? Just think how the MIC benefits from another hot/cold war. Just follow the money and who profits from an attack on Iran. Then maybe we will figure out why these monsters would do such a thing and why our bought and sold Congress would go along. Just like they have on the Iraq invasion and occupation.
The other thing that occurs to me is that just talking about the invasion of Iran is just a distraction; a diversion. I'm actually more concerned about what they are REALLY planning on actually doing. Like a false flag event here in the US. I think that martial law here in the US is more in line with what the rotten "powers that be" are after. Scarey......
What a freakin' mess! My only advice is to get your garden planted now if you haven't already. Galen is right. If this comes to pass, there isn't going to be any food at the grocery store.
Just a note: given today's prices and exchange rates regular gasoline already costs $ 8.89 in Germany. (Of course, Europeans have much more efficient engines, smaller cars, and shorter commutes, but still).
FORGET BUSH! He couldn't get himself to bed without assistance!
War is what a war-making society does! America was organized to function as a war-making society! What do you think the founding genocide was all about? To inaugurate a 'democracy'? Think people think! The US went to war almost as soon as it was born and never quit… it simply took over many of the operations that were taxing the reserves of the rest of Europe… at their bequest!
Why do you think there are military recruiters in every poor neighborhood? Why do you think that only jobs that support a militarized model of society are available?
Go after the whole war-making enterprise from the corrupt corporations and military agencies (that run roughshod over every attempt at sane living), to the invasive BIG Brother spying operations of the NSA and DIA, to the secret services (such as the FBI and CIA who peddle drugs, run child prostitution rings and citizen stalking) and their protectors and shills in the White House and Congress!
We the people need to find a way to throw more than rhetoric in the way of these insane, immoral war plans. The likely outcome is an expansion of the devastation we have brought to Iraq, with more death and suffering on both sides, and all of it in the service of the US addiction to oil. But it has long been clear that words, however well reasoned and argued, will not stop this crowd. Committed as I am to nonviolence, on principle as well as a strategic matter, I propose that we citizens withdraw our permission for this new adventure by pledging, No wider war on my account. I won't use the oil. I will park my car. I will walk. I'll buy a bike. I'll lower my thermostat. And the whole time, I'll wear a button or a sign reading, Don't widen the war on my account.
Think Rosa Parks and the Birmingham bus boycott, only on a national scale. I'd rather find a way to reduce my use of oil and bring the troops home, and allow the Iraqi people begin to rebuild their society. So I'll reduce my use of oil, and I'll keep at it, until we end the war.
Please help me think about this idea, everybody. I realize there are practical complications: Not everyone can afford to stop driving--they have to get to work, and work is a 30-mile commute from home. Not everyone can afford to lower their thermostat, the sick and elderly especially. But many of us can. We can all certainly do SOMETHING to cut back. If we can't stop motoring to work, maybe we can hop on the bus (the Rosa Parks example in reverse). We can buy local. And we can wear the sign or the button: No wider war on my account; I'm reducing my use of oil. Bring the troops home now.
A people's strike--we consumers hereby refuse to buy this war any longer. And we do it in a public way, and--very importantly--a way that encourages participation by people across a wide political spectrum. We do it in the service of the troops--and we are willing to make a sacrifice to end the war and bring them home, not put more of them in harm's way.
Consumer boycotts, formal and informal, can have a powerful impact if well organized. They can lead the affected industries to begin making change they would otherwise be reluctant to do, and in this case they could encourage corporate pressure on the Bush administration to back off.
I don't know about you, but I ain't marching anymore. It isn't working, it's way too easy for those in power to ignore, and we need something fresh and something that has an impact. So may I ask for your comments and help in imporving this idea? And may I humbly ask that from ourselves we could use a bit less rhetoric and some more hard thinking about what we can do, what concrete action we can take, to head off this impending calamity?
This means I am on target to win the 'bomb-Iran' pool! I have been steadily touting August 15 and this only confirms my beliefs.
The people who are responsible for controlling this administration - the rich money grubbing nazis who own our economy - are not interested in the consequences of their directives. They can move anywhere they desire and 'hang' the cost.
It does not help that the Israelis are also ordering the US to take action as well.
It`s Time for a Declaration of Independence From Israel
http://www.israelenews.com/view.asp?ID=2137
Filed under Israeli politics, Christian Zionism, Opinion Editorials, Anti-Israel academics, Iran's nukes, USA foreign policy, Iraq war, Christian Fundamentalism, Iran, Zionism - on Sunday, May 25, 2008 - By: Hedges, Chris
Speech delivered on Thursday, May 22, 2008, at Princeton University by Chris Hedges
This speech was first written as an article in 2007 in truthdig.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20070702_a_declaration_of_independence_from_israel/
It's Time for a Declaration of Independence From Israel
WTF: You in fact missed it. Congress passed a resolution last year to designated the Iran's Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization. McCain and Hillary voted FOR this resolution. This gave Congress's stamp of approval for Bushco to attack Iran's own army. Cute, huh?
it's over folks..this is the prelude to a "state of emergency"..and martial law..see you in the trenches...this is the bid of the cheney doctrine to avoid ever leaving "office" and to essentially begin WWIII....for what?..Oil? what need is there fro oil if there are no consumers?
THIS IS THE REPUBLICAN AND RIGHT WING VERSION OF HITLER ATTACKING RUSSIA IN THE WINTER...IT CANNOT WORK, IT WILL FAIL..IT IS MADNESS..AND THEY HAVE TO KNOW THIS..THE THINK TANK ARMY MUST KNOW THIS..SO WHY?..WHAT IS THE REAL AGENDA? I PERSONALLY BELIEVE IT IS MARTIAL LAW..A STATE OF EMERGENCY THAT WILL PUT INTO ACTION THE 5 PLUS "LAWS' THAT, BETWEEN THEM, ALLOW FOR THE TOTAL SUSPENSION OF THE CONSTITUTION...THIS IS THE REASON FOR THIS INSANITY..TO SUSPEND THE ELECTION, TO SUSPEND THE CONSTITUTION, TO CREATE THE FINAL PIEC IN A PAX AMERICANA...THE REAL DEAL FOLKS..THE REAL DEAL..AMERICA...TURNED INTO ..CHINA....
LIVE FREE OR DIE...
This article is not "fear mongering". There MUST be an attack on Iran or a "major event" that will allow bush to invoke NSPD51 and drive the final nail in the coffin of America.
Since the bush adminstration was responsible for planning, organizing, and executing the 9/11 attacks, revoking habeus corpus, instigating torture, and violating American Constitutional rights nationally, they have to retain control or face prosecution.
The bush/Clinton organization has had this country in a choke hold since 1980 and they aren't about to let go.
Those of you that think "Obama 08!" is going to happen are in for a very rude awakening.
Right on TheLorax!
I differ on one point only - it's not the bush/clinton organization. Its the 6000 people who control the world economy who have taken 20 years to bring us to this sad condition, step by step.
NPSD51 is a'comin' - all pieces are in place. 'All's NOT right with the world'.
And don't hold your breath waiting for an op-ed from Feinstein on this issue. She has betrayed her constituency so far with her pro administration stances because of her family's financial windfalls and her unquestioning obedience to the dictates of Israel.
In order to save our constitution and our form of government congress must act immeadtly to impeach Bush/Cheny.
The patriot act allows Bush to start another war without asking for a congressional vote. He then can enact martial law and suspend the election.
If "WE THE PEOPLE " want to save our country, we must force impeachment using the constitution before they suspend it completely.
You would you the jerks in congress would impeach just to keep thier powers, they have the most to loose if we allow a dictatorship to take America.
Now the cross roads drawer near , do we sell our souls to the devil, or give him a short walk out of the White House.
~Quark~ gasoline in Europe is heavily taxed, about $5 bucks a gallon I understand, so less that high tax, it's equably to what we are now paying.
Hi ~COCO~. I agree, this "Asia Times" is probably similar to our crazy supermarket newspapers, with headlines that Cheney has a private UFO and Michael Jackson finally had a sex change operation and now he can't parrallel park his limo. What did those pink ads say BTW?
I fear ~Rebel Farmer~ has some appropriate opinions here.
It's amazing what the criminals running the U.S. are capable of doing. They have gotten away with a huge war crime attacking and occupying Iraq, but that's not enough for the evil, greedy pigs.
You think the U.S. is unpopular now? It will be the most hated country on the planet soon if the war profiteering criminals are allowed to pull another pre-emptive strike on an innocent country, Iran.
While I would appreciate the op-ed piece promised by Senators Feinstein and Lugar, it seems to me that, being leading senators in both parties, they could/should do more than write and op-ed piece which will be read by a relatively small percentage of the citizenry and dismissed by many because it is in the New York Times.
Perhaps they could write a Bill, whilst writing the op-ed piece.
But we will be greeted as liberators and democracy will prevail over Islamofascism. Their oil will pay for it all, glory be. Flowers will rain upon us. Or fallout perhaps? Duck and cover and we will be OK.
They won't stop until Cheney is dead.
P.S.
And don't hold your breath waiting for an op-ed from Feinstein on this issue. She has betrayed her constituency so far with her pro administration stances because of her family's financial windfalls and her unquestioning obedience to the dictates of Israel.
You're right on with that ~lillulu~.
This whole situation with Iran of 'talking equals appeasement' could be solved by the US saying only one simple thing: "we will not preemptively bomb you" --- that's all Iran needs to hear and all that they want, an assurance that the US will not PREEMPTIVELY ATTACK AND BOMB THEM!
Seems pretty simple, since preemptively launching a bombing attack and war on any country is against UN Charter, Nuremberg Tribunal Agreement and the Geneva Convention ---- so it's pretty basic that any country would want to be sure that a power as great as the US simply followed international law and didn't do that to them.
But Iran has a bit of reason to be nervous and want assurance of that simple internatioal legal nicety --- can you think what those reasons might be with George Bush??
Common Dreams has been running these weekly "We're about to attack Iran" articles for years now. Just how are we going to do that without the destruction of the entire U.S. fleet in the Persian Gulf, a major Shi'ite uprising in Iraq, and the explicit threat from both Russia and China to intervene?
Earlier reports (many months ago) indicated that the attack will involve tactical nuclear explosives, probably from naval-launched cruise missiles. Such power is needed to penetrate the earth to destroy the underground facilities. (Operation Divine Strake was to have provided cover for the testing of mini-nuclear warheads in the Nevada desert.) The US military will then deny that nukes were used in its attack, and say that the fallout (actually from the bombs) is proof that the Iranians were stockpiling radioactive materials for their warhead development. And of course, no one will question this assertion.
We now know of the package "deal" that was struck between the US wingnuts and Israel. While the War on Iraq was a US instigated prelude, this attack on Iran is main event for right wingnuts in Israel. And so the Likudniks and their allies in the US will be the first since WWII to use nuclear weapons on fellow human beings (albeit goyam), on the speculation that somewhere down the road there might emerge a WMD problem from Iran. Who could have guessed that rightwing, out-of-control Jews, given all the suffering in the Holocaust, could instigate horror on the scale of what they themselves suffered? And on "spec"?! Israel and the USA are embarking on a path that will lead to massive tragedy on a global scale. How in the world could that be good for security??
Where are all the real mensch? Please stop these lunatics before it is too late!!!
Not much to say except that I agree with TurnoffyourTV: we're watching a play that's being put on by the Bush administration as a last ditch effort to keep the Republican Party from losing political clout.