The article reports that US military or covert operators have already made repeated excursions into Iran. and that Bush has a new special planning group at the pentagon, gearing up so if Bush orders an attack, within 24 hours the US military can be bombing Iran.
On CNN, Hersh told Blitzer that this "project is very far along., that they've been studying this forever. ...It's pretty obvious what's going on. The president has been talking more and more about attacks and threats on American lives (by Iranians.)
"For months there has been a lot of aggressive cross border activity--- more than just casual.
"The current contingency plans allow for an attack this spring.
Fortunately, not everyone in the military leadership agrees, and Hersh reports, "Much of the senior leadership do not think this is a wise thing to do. "
Hersh reported that one expert had envisioned a scenario in which an aircraft carrier in the Straits of Hormuz could be attacked by the hundreds of PT boats Iran has, which could be on suicide missions.
The Iranians also have more powerful weapons, like the one that did serious damage to the Israeli ship during the war with Lebanon last summer.
In response to statement by Secretary of War, Gates, where he denied that US was planning to go to war with Iran, Hersh said, "I guess Mr. Cheney did not get that message. In Australia, he said that all options are on the table."
As this article opened, with a description of the early start of the Iraq war, we have to ask the question, is doing a Clinton here, saying, it depends what the meaning of 'war' is. If you are sending in covert missions, sending in overt chase teams, flying into their space, arresting hundreds of Iranians in Iraq, just for being Iranian, and placing a massive war flotilla off the shores, does that count as war?
Back in 2003, the same behavior could easily be seen now as early war actions before the big frontal attack.
Now, Hersh tells us, "One of the contingency assignments would be to enable the president to be able to say, 'I want a hit,' and within 24 hours, it would be operational."
While there has been some speculation that Bush will encourage or authorize Israel to launch an attack on Iran, like it did on Iraq Osirus reactor 25 years ago, Hersh rejects that idea, saying,
"There's no thought of letting Israel bomb nuclear facilities. If Israel thinks they have to do it, then WE will do it.
"My own instinct is that this president is not going to leave office without doing something about Iran. And he keeps on refusing to negotiate and keeps talking tough."
Ironically, just as Bush and Cheney lied about connections between Saddam and al Qaeda, Bush and Cheney are again ginning the story now, by accusing the Iranians of causing deaths of hundreds of GIs in Iraq. But this is not true. Hersh cites Flynt Leverett, a former Bush Administration National Security Council official,
"The Administration is trying to make a case that Iran is more dangerous and more provocative than the Sunni insurgents to American interests in Iraq, when-- if you look at the actual casualty numbers-- the punishment inflicted on America by the Sunnis is greater by an order of magnitude," Leverett said. "This is all part of the campaign of provocative steps to increase the pressure on Iran. The idea is that at some point the Iranians will respond and then the Administration will have an open door to strike at them."
Of course, we know how the Bushes work. His father claimed that Saddam's forces had done horrible things to infants in a hospital ward in Kuwait-- which was a totally fabricated story. That was the emotional trigger that handed Bush senior the support of the American people. It is highly likely that the apple will not fall far from the tree-- Dubya will report some horrific offense, based on a tiny bit of truth, maybe, and that will be stenographically reported by all the media except for a few, like Keith Olbermann and maybe one or two CNN anchors like Lou Dobbs and Jack Cafferty. Depend on Wolf Blitzer and most of the rest of the high pay anchors to fail to ask tough questions and to just echo chamber the Bush version of the story and build the hysteria, fear and anger-- an excuse to activate the 24 hour bombing option.
Is it possible to stop this train? In my opinion, we're already at war with Iran, the way Bush and his Iran-Contra buddies do war. Can we stop them from doing a major escalation-- an Iranian "shock and awe attack?" It's possible. Not very, but slightly, if enough people talk about his patterns, and anticipate the use of ploys similar to those used to sell Iraq one and two. If enough people ask tough questions of enough high level generals and Bush appointees, maybe the truth will come out.
Rob Kall is executive editor and publisher of OpEdNews.com, President of Futurehealth, Inc, inventor . He is a frequent Speaker on Politics, Impeachment, The art, science and power of story, heroes and the hero's journey, Positive Psychology, Stress, Biofeedback and a wide range of subjects. He is a campaign consultant specializing in tapping the power of stories for issue positioning, stump speeches and debates. He recently retired as organizer of several conferences, including StoryCon, the Summit Meeting on the Art, Science and Application of Story and The Winter Brain Meeting on neurofeedback, biofeedback, Optimal Functioning and Positive Psychology. See more of his articles here and, older ones, here.
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And now we're doing it again, and I don't see where anyone is going to stop him, even the five generals and admirals who anonymous sources quoted in today's timesonline.co.uk said were going to up and quit if George tried to pull this stunt.
As for me, this is nothing new. Randi Rhodes on her radio show has been saying this exact same thing for weeks and weeks.
She's predicted March, Ides and all, as D-day, but April and May are still spring.
by
Sandy Sand (129 articles, 0 quicklinks, 144 diaries, 1120 comments)
on Sunday, February 25, 2007 at 4:36:35 PM
Exactly valleygirl, Bush has gone as far as admitting he started the war in Iraq under false pretenses. Then he simply changes his slogan on why were at war in Iraq dumps a few Generals and continued his reign of madness. Bush is beyond Impeachment and should be arrested, jailed and held without bond until justice can be served against him and his administration.
by
Fred F (1 articles, 1 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 363 comments)
on Sunday, February 25, 2007 at 4:59:43 PM
Let me get this right the Sunni groups are part of the group that is killing our troops in the Anbar region of Iraq and we are helping the Saudis to provide them with weapons as reported in a number of sources. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
by
tginmn (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 39 comments)
on Sunday, February 25, 2007 at 7:26:50 PM
This has Got to be The Most Stupidest ""Republics' ever ! We ALL Know what this Administration is pulling....we have been led down its' primerose path before...( Under false pretenses, I might add ) And here we go again ? Is this A 'savvy bunch of Brassy faced morons we support,, or do we Really pay a bunch of congressmen who Allow him to sell us down the River..Again..with no Objections ? Where is the Backbone of this So-called Congress of the People, For the people Fled to ? Where is the principle this Republic was built upon Disappeared To ? What ARE these Members of our "congress " Waiting to unfold Next ?? Before taking action against this bunch of Madmen who have Cheated and lied their way to gain control of our country ? Where has their conscience gone ? It makes my heart literally to Bleed Blood When I Think About What They Should All be Doing { While They sit back Safely out of sight ) And Wait For the NExt Shoe TO Fall.. while "Hoping it will Shed a Better LighT ( and hoping all the while that THEY will not have to do Anything to right all the Wrongs that they have allowed to take place in this Guvmt. right before their eyes ! ) They have hung onto the sidelines already too long .. and now there is no place to go but Forward. DO they have the caliber of character it will take to tackle this problem their own procrastination, and their own refusal to do what is the right thing to do, that they have brought this country to ? They Have to take control now of what their Refusal to confront ( for whatever their own personal excuses were ) has brought us to. This very Republic of Democracy depends on them All ( both Republicans And Democrats ) To do their job. The one they were Elected to do. To defend the People of this country ..against all Foes >>Those without and all of those Within ..Any who threaten our form of Democracy. Where ARe YOU ? You might Think This that I am saying now has nothing to do with " "Jhadist and al Qaeda... or Iran..Wrong. Think Again... and use some common sense...It has Everything to do with what I am saying. If YOU...Congress-members...had been Doing Your Job... (the one we "Recruited' you to be doing...we would never have arrived at the point this country is facing now... TOTAL extinction as a Democratic Governing Nation. Let That sink into your psychi. And start earning your Salt. Impeach this Bunch NOW. VGF
by
VGFlick (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 76 comments)
on Sunday, February 25, 2007 at 9:17:05 PM
But -- this fraudulent "war on terror" has been a Democrat project too. It is top Democrat presidential candidates that Israel / AIPAC is now courting to use some of those "options" that are "on the table" against Iran (Hillary, Obama, Edwards).
You think that top officials connected to terror financing is a new thing?
MICHAEL CHERTOFF was defending in court an Osama bin Laden financier at the same time he was supposed to be tracking down terror financing (blocked investigation Greenquest) and came up with nothing.
Chertoff who was accused by then DHS investigators of "sabotaging" Greenquest investigations was voted to become the Head of Homeland Security UNANIMOUSLY in a vote in the Senate of 98-0 (A lot of Democrats).
Chertoff was also the only US attorney kept on by Democrat Clinton when he took over in 1993.
Then, we can look at what CIA agent Michael Scheuer said about Clinton refusing to go after bin Laden 10 TIMES! Scheuer was the head of the bin Laden unit at CIA, which makes him highly suspect, but there's corroboration.
The Sudanese government tried to give the US large files on bin Laden / al Qaeda activities and were rebuffed. Instead of a diplomatic response, they got cruise missiles fired into their only medicine factory.
Resentful west spurned Sudan's key terror files
David Rose
Sunday September 30, 2001
The Observer
by
johndoraemi (17 articles, 12 quicklinks, 6 diaries, 170 comments)
on Sunday, February 25, 2007 at 10:36:45 PM
The term Conservative is generally understood to mean: "a political ideology which opposes sudden social change, high taxation and government involvement in industry." Actually, that's a false flag definition to conceal a commitment to Corpocracy, a society dominated politically and economically by large corporations. Which are in turn dominated by the Plutocracy.
Both of our political parties are dominated by Corporate Conservatives who exclusively serve their Corporate Masters. Corporate Conservatives view Democracy with disdain, seeing it as nothing less than Mob Rule. That opinion dates back to Leo Strauss, the father of Conservatism. Strauss maintained that the masses are simply incapable of rational self-rule, and that the Elite have to assume control by whatever means necessary to prevent chaos.
That's their justification for our Plutocratic Dictatorship.
Rational is defined as: "consistent with or based on or using reason." Which is a rationalization for my reasoning trumps your reasoning.
Rationalization is defined as: "the cognitive process of making something seem consistent with or based on reason."
Do our National Policies seem consistent with or based on reason, to you?
by
rabblerowzer (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 227 comments)
on Monday, February 26, 2007 at 4:06:08 AM
"America is using money not appropriated, without telling congress... Running covert operations, supporting groups, indirectly that were involved indirectly with 9/11.
As seen from the "9/11 was an inside job" perspective...why shouldn't a bunch of domestic criminals continue to finance coherts in the middle east ? It's wrong, yes. It's dead wrong and it's criminal. But so was 9/11.
by
Tony Forest (4 articles, 10 quicklinks, 115 diaries, 996 comments)
on Monday, February 26, 2007 at 5:48:58 AM
It is becoming clear to many millions of people that the Bush Administration's explanation of 9/11 defies logic and science.
The only possible explanation for the events of that day, the total collapse of three enormous steel framed buildings,unprecedented except through controlled demolition,
and the deliberate deactivaton of our normal air defense procedures etc.,is that events were orchestrated from inside the US government. This horror must be confronted honestly if we are to pull America back from the brink.
by
john coster (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 3 comments)
on Monday, February 26, 2007 at 6:58:45 AM
Rob and Hersh - excellent, excellent info!/one Hersch slip
In the New Yorker Hirsh wrote,
"Its President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has made defiant pronouncements about the destruction of Israel" Apparently, what Ahmadinejad really said was:
"Imam [Khomeini] said: 'This regime that is occupying Qods [Jerusalem] must be eliminated from the pages of history."
The NY Times tranlation had Ahmadinejad saying, "Our dear Imam said that the occupying regime must be wiped off the map"
The perfidious thing about this NY Times published translation is that the expression 'map' can only be used in one (intentional) way: a state can be removed from a map but not a regime, about which Ahmadinejad is actually speaking.
Unfortunately, looks like Hersh carried it one step further with attributing the word 'destruction' ...
I was jostled reading "distruction" so I Googled in "translation of "wipe off the map" and to my amazement here is what came up on INFORMATION CLEARING HOUSE: News You Won't Find On CNN
Does Iran's President Want Israel Wiped Off The Map - Does He Deny The Holocaust?
I don't know, CLEARING HOUSE is pretty reputable, anyone interested can copy into one's browser:
click here
check it out, make your own decision.
by
Jay Janson (65 articles, 0 quicklinks, 6 diaries, 78 comments)
on Monday, February 26, 2007 at 11:19:56 AM
Bush has to be the biggest hypocrite in the world! I think the justice Department or Homeland Security should be monitoring him for breaking U.S. law by funding terrorists.
by
Archie (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 817 comments)
on Monday, February 26, 2007 at 12:37:46 PM
As the article said this is a continuation of the Iran/Contra, cold war, October surprise policy. They have always funded both sides because it keeps the conflict going.
They probably sold the insurgents the hand held anti aircraft weapons that have been shooting down our helicopters years ago when Bin Laden was fighting the Russians. The RDX Rag bombs used to blow up the Marine Barracks in 1983 came from somewhere. Then we have 9/11 and the story we have been told that just doesn't coincide with the Towers falling in 10 seconds. They even carefully scripted the reasons that they did not check for the use of thermite in the wreckage.
This is nothing other then situation normal among this leadership group. They may have taken a few different positions over the years, but many of them have been involved with selling arms to our enemies for decades.
by
Sleeper (1 articles, 1 quicklinks, 5 diaries, 264 comments)
on Monday, February 26, 2007 at 6:39:06 PM
Some 1,000 Stingers were supplied to the mujahideen from 1986 onwards after Ronald Reagan overcame CIA objections that they were too dangerous to be given to the rebels. MI6 used SAS troops to train the Afghans in the use of the missiles.
continued....
It is not known how many Stingers were used in Afghanistan. Some of the 1,000 have turned up as far afield as Iran and Sri Lanka despite American efforts to retrieve them.
Ironically, Christina Rocca, US assistant secretary of state for South Asia, was in charge of a £45 million CIA Stinger buyback programme after the Soviet withdrawal.
Indian intelligence officials have claimed that the main effect of the programme was to increase the black market price by a third to £210,000.
So if you're worried about terrorists shooting Jumbos out of the sky, why do you provide them with hundreds of Stingers in the first place ? Answer : the war on terror is US-hosted and US-financed...well, not entirely. Other countries are assisting.
There's a lot more available on the web in regards to the disappearance of the weapons systems redeye and stinger (redeye is the oder version of the stinger and they're both highly acurate), in case anybody is interested. It's no secret.
As you may be able to read between the lines, the US (and others) are actively financing the terrorists and they have been doing so (at least) since the Iran hostage affair that cost Jimmy Carter his job as President....thanks to Poppy Bush and Oli North et al.
by
Tony Forest (4 articles, 10 quicklinks, 115 diaries, 996 comments)
on Tuesday, February 27, 2007 at 9:15:58 AM
