This will be my last post in the foreseeable future about the coming attack on Iran

[seemslikeadream]

http://powerofnarrative.blogspot.com/2007/08/worsening-nightmare.html

The Worsening Nightmare

This will be my last post in the foreseeable future about the coming attack on Iran, widening war in the Middle East and beyond, and concerning the likely dire consequences within the United States. I will undoubtedly note stories and developments of special significance -- but as for documenting the inexorable path leading to actions that will be the moral and political equivalent of Nazi Germany's attack on Poland, no. No more of that. If you want to remain informed about the steps of our descent into hell, I recommend you follow Chris Floyd, Antiwar.com, and Counterpunch. (That list isn't intended to be exclusive by any means; those are a few of the best sites for "alternative" views of current events, and ones that I myself keep apprised of.)

There is a great deal of other writing I want to do. As my health permits, I will continue the "Cosmic Dualism" series, and complete "Dominion Over the World" (which will have at least four or five additional installments). I also very much want to explore political tribalism, and its causes and consequences. I consider the extraordinarily primitive tribalism that corrodes our political debates today to be profoundly destructive in numerous ways. So I'll get to that as soon as practicable.

Before explaining in a bit more detail why I won't devote more time to Iran developments specifically, let's examine today's major story:
The United States has decided to designate Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, the country's 125,000-strong elite military branch, as a "specially designated global terrorist," according to U.S. officials, a move that allows Washington to target the group's business operations and finances.

The Bush administration has chosen to move against the Revolutionary Guard Corps because of what U.S. officials have described as its growing involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as its support for extremists throughout the Middle East, the sources said. The decision follows congressional pressure on the administration to toughen its stance against Tehran, as well as U.S. frustration with the ineffectiveness of U.N. resolutions against Iran's nuclear program, officials said.
As Will Bunch notes, one of the major purposes of this designation is to bring an attack on Iran within the 2002 Authorization of Military Force against Iraq. But what many people miss is that the "terrorist" designation also brings an Iran attack within the language of the 2001 AUMF. Moreover, while the specific language in the final sections of both AUMFs is relevant, no one seems to pay attention to the critical prefatory statements.

The final introductory paragraph of the 2001 AUMF states:
Whereas, the President has authority under the Constitution to take action to deter and prevent acts of international terrorism against the United States...
And Congress underscored its approval of this view of Executive warmaking authority in the 2002 AUMF:
Whereas Congress has taken steps to pursue vigorously the war on terrorism through the provision of authorities and funding requested by the President to take the necessary actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations or persons who planned, authorized, committed or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001 or harbored such persons or organizations;

Whereas the President and Congress are determined to continue to take all appropriate actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations or persons who planned, authorized, committed or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such persons or organizations;

[seemslikeadream]

1. Arthur Silber

http://www.chris-floyd.com/

For months, Arthur has done what very few of us writing about Iran ever do: offer specific, concrete, positive steps that could be taken to head off this disaster. He has called on -- and called out -- the major "liberal" bloggers, exhorting them to take up the cause, to mobilize their mass readerships on this overwhelmingly urgent issue. But now, says Silber:


It is too late. The kind of educational campaign I recommended as essential might have had a chance six months ago; it has no chance at all today, even if someone were prepared to undertake it -- and no one is....So we proceed on our path to a still worse and deepening nightmare. Our destination was set a long time ago. The intention to provoke a wider war has been announced repeatedly. No one believed it could happen, or wanted to believe it could happen. Such resistance and denial are common before all catastrophes of this kind. The warning signs are all around us and have been for years. Almost no one paid attention. No one acted to prevent what was obviously coming.

And still, no one will act to prevent it. So I see no point in documenting the further steps on this route to hell, for the same reason I avoid a certain kind of horror film: it is the contemplation of cruelty, murder, barbarism and sadism for their own sake.


These excerpts do an injustice to Arthur's detailed and nuanced piece (which is copiously supplied with links to more than a dozen major pieces he has written on the coming war with Iran, and its deeper roots in American history and human folly). You should read the whole thing.

P.S. And while you're at it, read this post: Of Abortion, and Women as the Ultimate Source of Evil. This is one of the best essays on the subject that I have ever read. And it is a great example of kind of thing that we will continue to see from Arthur as he turns away from the unfolding obscenity of a new war to other subjects.

[kimmerspixelated]

2. Thanks for posting.

Very sobering.

[librechik]

4. Arthur is brilliant

thanks for the link--I read a bunch of his essays while visiting. interesting stuff.

[mike_c]

16. echoing thanks for the link to Arthur Silber....

Thanks too for your insightful comments on this and many other topics.

[SharonAnn]

24. Link Please? Of Abortion, and Women as the Ultimate Source of Evil.

[seemslikeadream]

25. It's at the original link

or here, takes you to it

http://powerofnarrative.blogspot.com/2007/08/of-abortion-and-women-as-ultimate.html

Of Abortion, and Women as the Ultimate Source of Evil
There are a great many aspects of today's world that are variously horrifying, ghastly, destructive and appalling -- and among the very worst is an idea that appears to be rapidly gaining support: the noxious notion that all questions relating to abortion rights should be returned to the states. For many reasons, only a few of which are discussed below, this idea is completely incoherent as a matter of political theory, and it undercuts any defense of individual rights on the most fundamental level. If you give a damn at all about the liberty of a single human being, you should oppose all such attempts to your last breath.

The human being to which I refer is not the developing fetus, but the woman who carries the child. I well understand that many people believe that the fetus is a human being long before birth, with all the rights that attend to that designation. In the political context, I consider all such beliefs irrelevant, no matter how sincerely and deeply held. Only one ultimate point matters here: whether you think the developing fetus is a human being or not, the fetus is contained in and supported by the woman's body. If the woman's body did not exist, neither would the fetus. Only the woman's existence makes that of the fetus possible.

The fetus only exists because of the woman's body -- not yours, not that of some possibly corrupt and stupid politician in Washington, and not the body of some possibly ignorant and venal politician in a state legislature. As I have watched this debate develop, and as I have considered with astonishment the increasingly byzantine efforts to " draw lines" about the point of viability, the time at which a full set of rights attaches to the fetus, and all the rest, I have become increasingly convinced that the right of the woman to control her own body when she is pregnant must be absolute up to the point of birth. All the attempts to craft legislation circumscribing that right prior to birth quickly become enmeshed in what are finally subjective claims that can be disputed into eternity, and impossible of proof in one direction or another.

Certainly, the woman's right to an abortion must be absolute in the first and second trimesters of pregnancy. And even in the third trimester, up to the time of birth, that right must be absolute, and the decision must be that of the woman in consultation with those medical personnel she chooses. Yes, a decision to abort late in pregnancy may be agonizingly difficult, just as it may be at an earlier time -- but whatever agony is involved is that of the woman, not a politician or bureaucrat who is unjustly empowered to make decisions that affect someone else on the most profound level. The responsibility and the consequences are the woman's, and no one else's. The choice is also hers, and no one else's.

[bobthedrummer]

3. We're all terrorists, potential terrorists, terrorist supporters in HOMELAND (tm) by decree

decrees that will not be recognized by a growing number of US citizens any more. In fact, I don't recognize HOMELAND (tm) either.

IMPEACH THEM ALL-CHENEY FIRST

[tnlefty]

5. My spouse still contends that "they won't be stupid enough to

attack Iran"; I hope he's correct, but that's what I thought about Iraq. Be prepared to be slammed for having a :tinfoilhat: and other things.

:kick:

[slipslidingaway]

6. K&R!!! more from your link

"With regard to Iran in particular, the current Democratic Congress has already approved the critical rationales for an attack. The Senate approved -- by a vote of 97 to nothing -- an amendment that accuses Iran of committing acts of war against the United States. Thus, if we were to attack to Iran, we would purportedly only be acting defensively, and in response to what Iran has already done. This amendment, based entirely on unproven, propagandistic, intentionally warmongering allegations, was pushed in large part by Lieberman. Democrats (and progressive bloggers) may condemn the former Democrat all they wish: the fact remains that every Democratic Senator who voted on this measure voted for it. When the wider war begins, they will have no serious basis on which to object.

In a similar manner, the House approved a resolution -- by a vote of 411 to 2 -- that contained this language:

Whereas Iran has aggressively pursued a clandestine effort to arm itself with nuclear weapons....
About this, I wrote:

And that, as they say, is the ball game. In this manner, the Democratic House concedes, sanctifies, and gives its nearly unanimous support to the major propaganda point of the Bush-Cheney-Israel drive to war with Iran.

Thank God the Democrats took back Congress. That's all I can say."

[seemslikeadream]

7. Lies, War, and Empire Dr. Michael Parenti

Lies, War, and Empire part 1

Lies, War, and Empire part 2

[Adsos Letter]

17. thankyou, seemslikeadream....

...for all of your work in providing us with information and analysis. I want to especially thank you for your links to Dr. Parenti's presentations...very interesting and quite in harmony with the thesis I am writing now.

Thanks; don't be a stranger... :hi:

[hang a left]

19. Ditto and let us not ever forget all her work in the dungeon.

She is one of my heroes.

[seemslikeadream]

20. you know I am very worried about you

and what is happening in your life, I hope it is not politcal :hug:

[hang a left]

21. Thank you so much

I didn't realize that you were aware.

It is a nightmare.

Yes it is political. It will be used for election publicity in the county. It was used before for the same purpose.

I cannot tell you how angry I am.

I really appreciate your kind words.

[Joanne98]

8. That's for posting that. I haven't read him yet!

:hi:

[seemslikeadream]

9. War With Iran Has Begun

War With Iran Has Begun

[seemslikeadream]

10. Lieberman, McCain, Kyl, Graham, and Coleman Offer Iran Amendment

http://lieberman.senate.gov/newsroom/release.cfm?id=278654

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 11, 2007
Contact: Marshall Wittmann, 202-224-4041


Lieberman, McCain, Kyl, Graham, and Coleman Offer Iran Amendment




WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senators Lieberman, McCain, Kyl, Graham, and Coleman today introduced a bipartisan amendment to the Defense Authorization Act, confronting the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran over its proxy attacks on American soldiers in Iraq.

The amendment details the publicly available evidence put forward over the past year by General David Petraeus, commanding general of Multi-National Force Iraq, and others about Iran’s violent and destabilizing activities in Iraq.

The amendment states that “the murder of members of the United States Armed Forces by a foreign government or its agents is an intolerable act of hostility against the United States,” and demands the government of Iran “take immediate action” to end all forms of support it is providing to Iraqi militias and insurgents. The amendment also mandates a regular report on Iran’s anti-coalition activity in Iraq.

“For many months, our military commanders and diplomats have warned us that the Iranian government has been training, equipping, arming, and funding proxies in Iraq who are murdering our troops,” said Senator Lieberman. “This amendment is a common sense, common ground statement of the Senate to Tehran: we know what you are doing, and you must stop.”

“American officials attest that the government in Teheran seeks to bleed the United States and render unsuccessful our efforts to bring about a stable and self-governing in Iraq,” said Senator McCain. “This amendment will send a clear signal: Iran’s activities in Iraq are wrong, and they must end immediately.”

“The Iranians are attempting to thwart our policies in the Middle East by actively supporting terrorists who are killing our troops in Iraq,” said Senator Kyl. “It is time we acknowledge this hostility against us, and this amendment tells the Iranians we will not tolerate any actions which threaten our troops or allies.”

“The evidence is increasingly clear the Iranian government is working to destabilize the Iraqi government,” said Senator Graham. “It is long past time for Congress to speak out about this destructive behavior by Iran. We need one voice, and I expect it will be a unified bipartisan voice, speaking out and condemning these actions by the Iranian government.”

“The United States will not tolerate Iran’s hostile attempts to sabotage our efforts in the Middle East region,” said Senator Coleman. “On my last trip to Iraq, our Minnesota troops in Southern Iraq showed me Iranian-made explosives that were used against them on convoy missions. This crucial amendment makes it clear to the Iranian government, and any other government in the region that seeks to harm our soldiers, that providing any form of support to Iraqi insurgents will not be tolerated and must cease immediately.”






Cheney, Lieberman and Iran War Conspiracy


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-gareth-porter/cheney-lieberman-and-ira_b_60705.html

....

We have known for a long time that Cheney wants a major air attack on Iranian nuclear sites and other military and economic targets. But an August 9 story published by McClatchy newspapers reveals that, instead of waiting for a decision to go ahead with such a strategic attack against Iran, Cheney now hopes to get Bush to approve an attack on camps in Iran where Iraqi Shiite militiamen have allegedly been trained in recent years.

....

The Cheney proposal for an airstrike against three bases in Iran can have only one purpose -- to provoke an Iranian retaliation that would then make it possible to unleash a full-fledged strategic air attack against Iran. The provocation strategy would be an obvious way around the political obstacles in the way of an unprovoked attack.

This is not the first time that such a provocation strategy has been attributed to the Bush administration. In February 2007, Hillary Mann, the National Security Council director for Iran and Persian Gulf Affairs until 2004, told CNN that the Bush administration was "pushing a series of increasing provocations against the Iranians in, I think, anticipation that Iran will eventually retaliate, and that will give the United States the ability to launch limited strikes against Iran, to take out targets in Iran that we consider to be important."

The revelation of the Cheney attack proposal throws a new light on a series of developments relating to Iraq since early June. The first event that takes on new meaning is Joe Lieberman's public call on June 11 for exactly the same kind of attack on the alleged training bases in Iran as Cheney was advocating inside the administration.

Lieberman, appearing on CBS's Face the Nation, said, "I think we've got to be prepared to take aggressive military action against the Iranians to stop them from killing Americans in Iraq. And to me that would include a strike over the border into Iran, where we have good evidence that they have a base at which they are training these people coming back into Iraq to kill our soldiers."

Was that just a coincidence? Not a chance, says one Washington insider who is very familiar with Lieberman and the inner workings of the whole neoconservative demi-monde. "Lieberman is not the kind of guy who goes off on his own to make a proposal like this," says the observer. "He's very disciplined. He's a foot soldier, an integral part of the neoconservative movement.

In other words, Lieberman was acting as a stalking horse for Cheney's proposal, softening up public opinion for later war propaganda.

Then on July 2, the new spokesman for the U.S. command in Baghdad, Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner, presented a briefing for the press that dovetailed perfectly with Cheney's strategy. One of his main themes was the suggestion of an Iranian role in planning a January Shiite militia attack in Karbala in which five Americans were killed. The other major point that Bergner pushed was that Iran was using what he called "Special Groups" of "rogue" Shiite militiamen to destabilize Iraq, in part by training them in camps in Iran.

.....

But the Bergner briefing appears to have been a key move in the war conspiracy, aimed at providing just the kind of "evidence" that could be used to push Cheney's proposal both within the administration and outside .

To translate the media impact of the Bergner briefing into political support for the Cheney proposal, Senator Lieberman was ready with a press release issued the same day as the briefing which cited it as evidence that Iran was training Shiites in Iran who were killing Americans. Lieberman used the occasion to repeat his call for a U.S. attack on the camps in Iran. Lieberman then introduced an amendment which stated, "The murder of members of the United States Armed Forces by a foreign government or its agents is an intolerable act of hostility against the United States."

....

It is not clear whether Bush has explicitly authorized Cheney to prepare the ground for Cheney's new strategy of provocation. In the spring, Rice succeeded in getting Bush to go along with direct diplomatic contacts with Iran. Cheney then let it be known in Washington right-wing circles that he was concerned that Bush would fail to support the military option against Iran and that he, Cheney, was planning an "end-run strategy" to ensure that it would not prevail. But at a White House meeting of key policymakers on Iran in June, according to an article last month in the Guardian, Bush sided with Cheney in an argument over whether these diplomatic talks should be allowed to continue to January 2009.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

11. Honestly,...I've never felt so lost and confused,...and scared,...in my life.

I have so little control over the regime called a democratically elected executive office in my country.

I live each day IN the people who surround me, the community I live in.

I have no power over this pResident or his administration or the Congress or the SCOTUS. I have the power to appeal to all of them, but no power to sway what they do.

The only power I have is to make the best of what is within my reach.

I wish that those who are being destructive would be burdened with full responsibility. But, they won't. They will never pay the debt to society they owe. But, I will, my family will, my community will, my country will,...because we will be blamed and encumbered with the evil of our "leaders".

I hope to live long enought to witness another REAL revolution against the Amoral, greedy, win-at-all-costs human predators that have drug down not only the nation in which I live but also the world.

[seafan]

13. I hear you, sicksicksick_N_tired. I hope we all live to see the day these ba$tard$ meet justice.

We are in a very dangerous moment in history.

I channel all of my rage, despair and grief into exposing these criminals. Keep fighting, and never, NEVER give up.

Peace and justice.

[scarletwoman]

12. Rec'd -- thank for bringing Arthur Silber here, I read him semi-regularly.

I must admit that I haven't stopped by there for a couple weeks -- sometimes his raw truth is so heartbreaking I have to step back and catch my breath.

I'm actually glad to see that he's stepping back from trying to prevent the inevitable war on Iran. There have been lots of us, each trying in our own ways to alert our fellow citizens to the gathering greater darkness.

But all these years wasted of having all our warnings go unheeded -- years when we might have gathered together a formidable political force, a force strong enough to seriously challenge the Official Narrative -- have made this war inevitable.

We have watched it all unfold here in our own DU microcosm -- all the DUers who have been proclaiming "no way" or "crying wolf" for the past 3-4 years.

Well, it's going to happen because no one is stopping it. Certainly not our Dem politicians.

sw

[seemslikeadream]

14. What We Wanted to Tell You About Iran

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=3109220

[Sparkly]

15. StopIranWar.com

As usual, The General (General Clark) has been prescient on this...

[Duppers]

18. this is a nightmare

Indeed, a "Worsening" one.

K & R

MANY THANKS, seemslikeadream.

[DemReadingDU]

22. morning kick

[lovuian]

23. if we go to war with Iran the Democratic Congress will go with

Bush in it... in other words the democrats will be part of it

Congress in the Big Secret Revealed has given their blessing

its a great evil that has come over America
to destroy this once great nation military economically and take its natural resources and harm it

but they will fail and America will come back

[socretes73]

26. Will The Tyrant Pull the Trigger on TIRANNT????

"Theater Iran Near Term" (TIRANNT)

By Michel Chossudovsky

02/23/07 "Global Research" - DUBAI, UAE, 21 February 2007. (revised 23 Feb 2007). Code named by US military planners as TIRANNT, "Theater Iran Near Term" has identified several thousand targets inside Iran as part of a "Shock and Awe" Blitzkrieg, which is now in its final planning stages.
According to the Kuwait-based Arab Times, an attack on Iran under TIRANNT could occur any time between late February and the end of April. This assessment, however, does not take into account the disarray of US ground forces in Iraq as well as the untimely withdrawal of several thousand British troops from the Iraq war theater, many of whom were stationed in Southern Iraq on the immediate border with Iran.

Revealed last April by William Arkin, a former US intelligence analyst, writing in the Washington Post, TIRANNT was first established in May 2003, following the invasion of Iraq.

"In early 2003, even as U.S. forces were on the brink of war with Iraq, the Army had already begun conducting an analysis for a full-scale war with Iran. The analysis, called TIRANNT, for "theater Iran near term," was coupled with a mock scenario for a Marine Corps invasion and a simulation of the Iranian missile force. U.S. and British planners conducted a Caspian Sea war game around the same time. And Bush directed the U.S. Strategic Command to draw up a global strike war plan for an attack against Iranian weapons of mass destruction. All of this will ultimately feed into a new war plan for "major combat operations" against Iran that military sources confirm now exists in draft form.

... Under TIRANNT, Army and U.S. Central Command planners have been examining both near-term and out-year scenarios for war with Iran, including all aspects of a major combat operation, from mobilization and deployment of forces through postwar stability operations after regime change." (William Arkin, Washington Post, 16 April 2006)

The 2003 decision to target Iran under TIRANNT should come as no surprise. It is part of the broader military roadmap. Already during the Clinton administration, US Central Command (USCENTCOM) had formulated in 1995 "in war theater plans" to invade first Iraq and then Iran.

"The broad national security interests and objectives expressed in the President's National Security Strategy (NSS) and the Chairman's National Military Strategy (NMS) form the foundation of the United States Central Command's theater strategy. The NSS directs implementation of a strategy of dual containment of the rogue states of Iraq and Iran as long as those states pose a threat to U.S. interests, to other states in the region, and to their own citizens. Dual containment is designed to maintain the balance of power in the region without depending on either Iraq or Iran. USCENTCOM's theater strategy is interest-based and threat-focused. The purpose of U.S. engagement, as espoused in the NSS, is to protect the United States' vital interest in the region - uninterrupted, secure U.S./Allied access to Gulf oil."

(USCENTCOM, http://www.milnet.com/milnet/pentagon/centcom/chap1/stratgic.htm#USPolicy , emphasis added)

First Iraq, then Iran

Consistent with CENTCOM's 1995 "sequencing" of theater operations, the plans to target Iran were activated under TIRANNT in the immediate wake of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Confirmed by Arkin, the active component of the Iran military agenda was launched in May 2003 "when modelers and intelligence specialists pulled together the data needed for theater-level (meaning large-scale) scenario analysis for Iran." (Arkin, op cit). In October 2003, different theater scenarios for an Iran war were contemplated:

"The US army, navy, air force and marines have all prepared battle plans and spent four years building bases and training for "Operation Iranian Freedom". Admiral Fallon, the new head of US Central Command, has inherited computerized plans under the name TIRANNT (Theatre Iran Near Term)." (New Statesman, 19 Feb 2007)

Concurrently, the various parallel components of TIRANNT were put in place including the Marines "Concept of Operations":

"The Marines, meanwhile, have not only been involved in CENTCOM's war planning, but have been focused on their own specialty, "forcible entry." In April 2003, the Corps published its "Concept of Operations" for a maneuver against a mock country that explores the possibility of moving forces from ship to shore against a determined enemy without establishing a beachhead first. Though the Marine Corps enemy is described only as a deeply religious revolutionary country named Karona, it is -- with its Revolutionary Guards, WMD and oil wealth -- unmistakably meant to be Iran.

Various scenarios involving Iran's missile force have also been examined in another study, initiated in 2004 and known as BMD-I (ballistic missile defense -- Iran). In this study, the Center for Army Analysis modeled the performance of U.S. and Iranian weapons systems to determine the number of Iranian missiles expected to leak through a coalition defense.

The day-to-day planning for dealing with Iran's missile force falls to the U.S. Strategic Command in Omaha. In June 2004, Rumsfeld alerted the command to be prepared to implement CONPLAN 8022, a global strike plan that includes Iran. CONPLAN 8022 calls for bombers and missiles to be able to act within 12 hours of a presidential order. The new task force, sources have told me, mostly worries that if it were called upon to deliver "prompt" global strikes against certain targets in Iran under some emergency circumstances, the president might have

[tom_paine]

27. K & R

[redqueen]

28. Thanks...

for this and everything else you do, too.

[debbierlus]

29. Thanks very much for the info

I am going to be vlogging on my youtube channel about the looming disaster in Iran. This is a great addition.

[leftchick]

30. key points....

<snip>

And that, as they say, is the ball game. In this manner, the Democratic House concedes, sanctifies, and gives its nearly unanimous support to the major propaganda point of the Bush-Cheney-Israel drive to war with Iran.

Thank God the Democrats took back Congress. That's all I can say. Otherwise, who knows what might have happened! Why, we might be on our way to a nuclear world war!

Please note: Iran disputes, as it has always disputed, the truth of this charge. Moreover, it is very far from clear just how far Iran may have gotten in its pursuit of nuclear weapons, even if one assumes that is what they are doing.

And I repeat: even if Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons, SO WHAT?

But now, the House is fully on board with the Bush-Cheney-Israel program. When Bush gives his speech announcing that bombing runs began four hours earlier, that some of Iran's nuclear installations have already been destroyed, and that the rest of them will be similarly destroyed in another two or three days, on what grounds will the Democrats object? As war, possibly with nuclear weapons, spreads across the Middle East and beyond, on what grounds will the Democrats object?

[Danger Mouse]

31. Also, China, Russia and many others have been flexing their muscles...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2957869&mesg_id=2957869
an obvious show of force meant as, I think, a warning.
China and Russia don't want us in Iran.
Is it possible that they will intervene militarily?

[awoke_in_2003]

38. "Is it possible that they will intervene militarily?"

China wouldn't need to. As one of the largest financers of our debt, they could collapse our economy- all without firing a shot.

[Danger Mouse]

40. True. And they would, at that.

It would be a bold and brilliant move.

[Mark D.]

32. In Simplest Terms

Saudi Arabia has nukes. 3/4 of 9/11 hyjackers came from there. Almost 1/2 of suicide bombers/terrorists hitting out troops in
Iraq are from Saudio Arabia; far more than any other country...Iran has so few it didn't even make the top 3 countries that'd
been shown to support such acts. But they have a better policy for their oil with the US than Iran does & have not made the
empty threats Iran's flambouyant hyperbolic president has of a need to wipe out Israel which could wipe out Iran very easily
if they wanted to if such a thing was tried. But they would rather have our nukes and boots and blood on the ground instead.

This is even more a war that will be based on lies. The simple thing is the simple thing. This message is far easier to be proven
than the WMD one. Even when inspectors were allowed anywhere, and found nothing in Iraq the right wing herds just followed
the attack plan. We can show them a more clear 'enemy'. But visions of higher gas prices for their SUV dance in their heads.

The MSM won't push this enough, we know we can't count on them. But it's funny that they actually mentioned the 20 Billion
aide package for the Saudis. Again, we are giving most of 20 billion in aide to the birthplace of Osama, a source of most 9/11
hyjackers and the suicide bombers in Iraq. Aide in the form of weapons, and assasin style gear. This is such a clear cut case!

Some Democrat polticians are supporting the aide package. But how many are holding up these 2 simple cards. One that shows
empty threats by Iran, nukes only being made for energy, and VERY LITTLE participating in Iraq. Another with US GIVING huge
weapon-based aide to a country that had such a role in 9/11 and is killing more troops in Iraq than any other outside of Iraq.

The police & crowd stand idle by. They see the mugger nab the old lady and beat her up and walk away then they go into a
nearby house and arrest some loud loonie making empty threats about beating up that old lady. There's no better analogy...
We are that crowd. Or at least the aware ones in the crowd. We have to make some fucking noise about this reality quick!

[truedelphi]

36. Although I agree withyour post - it always upsets me when people

Mention all the fighters from Saudi Arabia and elsewhere slipping into Iraq - the USA destroyed the Iraqi Armuy - which previously was in charge of the border security there- and NONE of the USA military strategy in Iraq involves keeping tabs on Iraqi borders!! None!!

Our military strategy in Iraq seems to involve mainly sending our service people up and down Iraqi highways and roads until fired upon.

When immediately after the Shock and Awe campaign that initiated the war, our troops discovered a huge arsenal of explosives - the troops were allowed to stay at that weapons cache for less than 48 hours after the discovery - they then were ORDERED out - leaving behind the very explosives that have ended up in the IED's killing and maiming our troops. (This arsenal contained over 200,000 pounds of explosives) It was mentioned in MSM coverage immediately before the 2004 Presidential election.)

But hey, one of the main objectives of the War, enriching the Halliburton and military defense contractors, has been successful, so what difference does it make??

[DU GrovelBot]

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[ludwigb]

34. Very Intelligent Blog

Bookmarked. 2 points of constructive criticism:

1) Don't use 'I' so much. American readers don't like self-referentiality, as they feel it gets in the way of objectivity.
2) Try to shorten your posts a bit. The blog form and the essay form are distinct. The etiquette in the States is intellectual essays based on evidence should be posted in scholarly journals. Write essays, and link to them in your blog posts and your website. Keep blog posts short and to the point.

Keep fighting the good fight!

[seemslikeadream]

35. Do you realize that is not my blog?

Arthur Silber does extremely well, but I suppose you could send your critism to him

[G_j]

37. thanks

good article

I feel awful too...:puke:


:hi:

[seemslikeadream]

41. my friend

:hug:

[Diclotican]

39. Extremely worried

If the current US Administration are going to war over Iran to. With the falshold lying and leagal tumbling as they was doing around the war in Iraq, they may loose the smal potition of friends they have left in the rest of the World.. They may manage to lay to the UN Security Consel. They may manage to try to "fabricate" facts that support theyr wiew.

But IF they do that, they wil do it ALONE is my guess. If you thing the "alone-walk" was bad over Iraq. Wait to Iran are on the table.. Even the Great Britian would not support US in that war... And the Great Britain have som "experience" from the Iran area of the world as they was a imperial power in this area of the world for not that long ago.. And they was getting a bloody noose about it..

If the current US Administration are really willing to risk everything US have working for over the last 200 year, becouse of "strategy in the middle east" or great egos or what they want to use as a exuse this time, they wil be damn for a long time to go. The US wil go with them down the drain.. The american public HAVE TO TELL THE GOVERMENT THAT THEY ARE NUTT, AND MUST BE STOPED BEFORE THEY CAN GO TO WAR OVER IRAN to. Go to Washington DC AND Demostrate. Write, Call Get the medias antetion, you have to take back the US.. We on the outside of US are more and more worry about the maddnes the administration have been doing for 6 year now.. You cant just sitt around and "wayt for 08" anymore.. If you dont do "someting" you may never get another shance to wote at all..

If halv the memos that is been writing here was true the US is in GREAT DANGER to be a fullblown dictatorship long before the 08 voting... Martial Law and "curbing of woting for the time beeing" can be the result of the whole thing..
And then the police are coming, to arrest you in the night, maybe beating, humiliate you and send you to "detention centes" a new name for Consentrations Camp... Maybe not as in Germany, but with the same result.. Scare the rest to obey and do as they mastes want them to do...

The Current US are looking more and more, and smell more and more like the old Germans of the 1930s. Ore the Old Sovjetunions of the 1950s.. A public that dont dear to speak out, ore dont want to.The cost is to big, Ore dont care anymore...