Do you recall John McCain’s war-loving-lyrical response to the challenge of getting along with Iran? (See also this Moveon Youtube.)

Well, a more pressing question might be whether George Bush & his allies in Israel will pull an “October surprise” on our election process. Imagine if you will, some “Gulf of Tonkin” incident, some “Weapons of Mass Distraction” science fiction, some “supporters of cross-border terrorism” lies. Would the Republican Party benefit from such an attack? Would McBush-Cain strategists think so? Certainly McCain’s only hole-card is his claim to being tough on terrorists.

July 1, Update Having so consistently lied about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, would you think the liar-in-chief or his servants would be truthful about Iran? Tuesday's Washington Post reports the CIA ignored facts and analyses which showed Iran long ago suspended its nuclear weapons program

A former CIA operative who says he tried to warn the agency about faulty intelligence on Iraqi weapons programs now contends that CIA officials also ignored evidence that Iran had suspended work on a nuclear bomb. The onetime undercover agent, who has been barred by the CIA from using his real name, filed a motion in federal court late Friday asking the government to declassify legal documents describing what he says was a deliberate suppression of findings on Iran that were contrary to agency views at the time.

Laura Rozen at Mother Jones collects snippets of expert observers' views which are really worth reading. Their take-away? Most of them think military action against Iran is unlikely. But –

Seymour Hersh has another blockbuster in The New Yorker. Cross-border terrorist George W. Bush has sent US forces to fight Iran. Hersh’s must-read essay which appears in this coming week’s issue points out that the clandestine US actions against Iran “are designed to destabilize the country’s religious leadership. The covert activities involve support of the minority Ahwazi Arab and Baluchi groups and other dissident organizations. They also include gathering intelligence about Iran’s suspected nuclear-weapons program.”

I have no doubt that the Republicans want to attack Iran. They have been trying to build their fake case for months. But the chances of them actually invading are very slim. Bombing runs are quite possible, but invasion would be the stupidest thing they have done in their entire stupid administration. We are bogged down in both Afghanistan and Iraq with almost no allies left and with a military stretched to a breaking point. And Iran is far tougher than any opponent we have fought since WW II. They kicked Iraq's butt when Iraq invaded. We cannot fight across the whole area of Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan.

The latest rumor is that Dick Cheney told the Saudi king that we are going to nuke Iran, possibly in April, and Saudi Arabia is planning for nuclear fallout. This rumor has been making the rounds through the liberal blogsphere. While I believe Bush wants endless war, I do not believe this rumor at all.

In the race to replace Vito Fossella in New York's 13th Congressional District the arguments among and between the partisans of the aspirants for the Democratic Party nomination in New York’s 13 Congressional District has focused on almost anything but the issues. Personally, I’ve been dissatisfied with what seemed to be shaping up as an intensely insider debate. (Who can raise enough money? Who is a pawn of Vito Lopez? Who supported Sen. Martin J. Golden?) Process questions are important, but they should not take the place of policy discussion, as I see it.

In order to understand the difference between them, I called up both candidates and asked them about key issues. I’ve run the statements below by each candidate again so as to ensure their accuracy and opportunity to fine tune the positions. Corrections are welcome. In my view, the statements below point to some policy differences between Mr. Harrison and Mr. Recchia.

I asked about the views of Mr. Harrison and Mr. Recchia on other issues too: health care, civil liberties, the economy, the sub-prime lending crisis. Suggestions are welcome The statements post jump.

Do you remember John McCain’s bizarre re-write of the Beach Boys’ Barbara Ann into Bomb Iran ? Well, the rightward push for war with Iran seems, to me at last, to be coming to shove.

Professional Jew, war monger, neo-con Norman Podhoretz met with George Bush, Karl Rove to urge the bombing of Iran’s “nuclear facilities” and giving interviews about it to conservative outlets like The Politico and The London Times . Similarly a coterie of Cheney chums formed as “Freedom Watch” are devoting their millions to war with Iran. (See NY Times story here .

The most disturbing of these reports, is in the current
New Yorker, by Sy Hersh . This is a must-read in my view,