Do you recall John McCain’s war-loving-lyrical [1] response to the challenge of getting along with Iran? (See also this Moveon Youtube.) [2]
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 [3]
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 [4] 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 [5] 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.”
Hersh writes in part:
United States Special Operations Forces have been conducting cross-border operations from southern Iraq, with Presidential authorization, since last year. These have included seizing members of Al Quds, the commando arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and taking them to Iraq for interrogation, and the pursuit of “high-value targets” in the President’s war on terror, who may be captured or killed. But the scale and the scope of the operations in Iran, which involve the Central Intelligence Agency and the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), have now been significantly expanded, according to the current and former officials. [emphasis added by me]
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Read this article now. Much of it concerns the selling of clandestine aggression against Iran to Congress. (Also, try reading Thomas Powers' excellent essay [6] in the New York Review of Books.)
Do you recall the old half-joking definition of a "diplomat" as an honest man sent abroad to lie for his country? Here is US Ambassador Ryan Crocker [7] responding to the article: "I'll tell you flatly that U.S. forces are not operating across the Iraqi border into Iran, in the south or anywhere else." Believe that? I have a bridge in Brooklyn for you. Why do I think Amb. Crocker remarks are deceptive? Two reasons: across the Iraqi border, US bought & paid for Kurdish fighters are killing under US supervision. CIA and Special Ops units based in western Afghanistan are said to be engaged in cross border military operations (see below)
Many members of Congress have endorsed an extremely provocative pro-Iran-war resolution.
77 House Democrats and 92 House Republicans have co-sponsored a bill that approves an act of war against Iran. As early as the second week in July, the House may vote on H.Con.Res. 362 – a resolution that demands Bush initiate an international effort to effectively impose a land, sea, and air blockade on Iran. What's your member's position? NY area Congress Members who've signed on to this more war adventure include: Gary Ackerman, Kirsten Gillibrand, Nita Lowy, Carolyn Maloney, Michael Arcuri, Eliot Engel, Ed Towns and of course Peter King and Vito Fossella. (See Sarah Van Gelder's excellent account of this proposal for more war [8] reprinted in Common Dreams.)
I suggest we plan to take action against what I see as Mr. Bush’s attempt to impose a third Bush term. One small step? Consider writing your Congress Member about the wisdom of H.Con.Res.362 [9].
Did your want to read more?
Get a feel for the sorts of murder Mr. Bush is paying for in Iran with this Washington Post account of the execution of two Police Officers [10]:
An armed Sunni group said Friday that it had executed two Iranian policemen, and it threatened to kill 14 others abducted a week ago in an area near the border with Pakistan.
Iranian authorities did not immediately react to a videotape purporting to show the killings, part of which was aired Friday by the al-Arabiya satellite channel, based in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. Iran has accused the United States of assisting the group, known as Jundallah, or God's Brigade.
In 2007, ABC News quoted U.S. and Pakistani intelligence officials as saying that Jundallah members have been "encouraged and advised" by American officials since 2005. A CIA spokesman told ABC that the United States provides no funding to Jundallah.
Dan Froomkin, also writing in the Washington Post has a long, interesting column taking off from the Hersh article [11] which claims to find Mr. Cheney's fingerprints on Iran policy.
Try this Daily Kos Post on on H.Con.Res. 362 [12];
These stories about Israeli dress rehersal for Iran bombing from the New York Times [13] and the UK's Guardian [14]
and, via Alternet, posts from Ex-CIAnik Ray McGovern [15] and Conn Hallinan [16]/.
Would you like another thought about possible anti-Iran-war action you could take? Code Pink's Medea Benjamin reports on US Mayors opposing a push for Iran war [17]. How about our mayor? Unlike many others, Mr. Bloomberg is not on the list. [18] Why not? Perhaps we should ask him.
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