Bolton: I ‘Absolutely’ Hope The U.S. Will Attack Iran In The Next ‘Six Months’

[babylonsister]

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/08/22/bolton-iran-six-months/

Bolton: I ‘Absolutely’ Hope The U.S. Will Attack Iran In The Next ‘Six Months’

Yesterday, Raw Story pointed out that former CIA operative Bob Baer told Fox News that the Bush administration will likely attack Iran in the coming months. “Iran policy is on close hold, but the feeling is we will hit the Islamic Revolutionary Guard corps sometime next six months or so,” said Baer.

Today, former U.N. ambassador John Bolton appeared on Fox News and responded. He said that while he couldn’t confirm Baer’s statements, he “absolutely” hoped they were true:

HEMMER: One final step here, too, that I want to take with you. You told one of our producers earlier today that you don’t know if it’s true — and you’ve made that clear in our interview here, that you don’t know what the odds are or are not against that — but you hope it’s true. Why do you hope it’s true?

BOLTON: Absolutely. I hope Iran understands that we are very serious, that we are determined they are not going to get a nuclear weapon capability, and unless they change the strategic decision they’ve been pursuing for close to 20 years, that that’s something they better factor into their calculations.

Watch it/read transcript at link~

Bolton’s calls for strikes against Iran mirror those of other neocons, such as Bill Kristol and Michael Rubin, who also pushed for the Iraq invasion. Bolton’s claim that “Iran is interfering in Iraq and is posing a direct threat to our troops” is not a reason to strike the country. In reality, both Gen. Peter Pace and the National Intelligence Estimate have confirmed that Iran is “not likely” to be a major driver of violence in Iraq.

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[txaslftist]

1. It would be such a catastrophic mistake...

...that it's almost certain these idiots will do it.

[Hepburn]

2. Jay-zus....Bolton is BEYOND "idiot"....

...and well into Moran.

[xultar]

11. You gotta love it though. He basically let the cat, dog, bird, lion, bear, cow...out of the bag.

[Hepburn]

20. Along with the monkey in the WH, too!

You are soooooooooooooooo right! :hi:

[seemslikeadream]

3. According to military sources the U.S. has given the go ahead to stir up trouble inside Iran

Turkish Military does not trust US on PKK

http://www.thenewanatolian.com/tna-28325.html

Military does not trust US on PKK
18 August 2007


The Turkish Armed Forces does not believe the Americans really intend to launch a joint operation against the PKK terrorists holed up in northern Iraq and say the news that was leaked to the Washington Post that the U.S. administration was planning an operation to capture PKK leaders was intentional.

PKK attacks against military and civilian targets have intensified in recent months in eastern and southeastern Turkey raising public demands for a cross border operation into Iraq where more than 3,000 PKK militants and their leaders are holed up.

On April 12 Chief of Staff General Yasar Buyukanit told a press conference in Ankara that the military feels a cross border operation against the PKK in northern Iraq is necessary and will be successful. Ever since then the military has repeated the need for such a military operation.

Just as the military was making such demands news leaked to the Washington Post created quite a stir in Ankara. Prominent columnist Novak claimed senior congressmen had been briefed by the Pentagon on a possible joint military operation with Turkey to capture PKK leaders in northern Iraq.

US intelligence for Turkey ----ARA BASLIK

Americans have given intelligence information to Turkey about PKK movements in Turkey and northern Iraq but have stressed but cautioned that these should not be used for a cross border operation.

The military believes the Americans are trying to create a Kurdish state in northern Iraq.

They say the creation of a Kurdish state is just a matter of timing.

Turkish military analysts believe the Kurds want to take control of Kirkuk this year. They say the reason why the Kurds have been pushing so hard against the Turkmen city of Telefar near Mosul is because the area is a gateway to Syria. If they can control Telefar then they can establish a direct physical border link with the Kurds of Syria. If the U.S. launches an operation against Syria then the Kurds hope they can establish direct links to the sea in the Mediterranean.

Thus the Kurds will then have an outlet to the sea and with Kirkuk oil they will survive.

Without this they will remain heavily dependant on their neighbors especially Turkey and cannot sustain an independent state.

The U.S. sees Iran as a tough nut to crack. With their bad experiences in Iraq military analysts feel the U.S. may try to attack Iran from within and create internal strife. For this both the U.S. and Israel have focused their attention on the Kurds and the Azeris.

So it is only normal that the U.S. considers the PKK as a trump card to be used against Iran to stir up internal strife. The PKK can be used to create an uprising in the Kurdish areas in Iran. According to military analysts the PKK is well organized in Iran and is capable of stirring trouble.

According to the military the U.S. aims to promote Massoud Barzani as the political leader of all the Kurds. But if Barzani steps out of line or becomes a loose cannon then the idea is to use the PKK against him as a balancing factor. So the U.S. is actually keeping the PKK in the sidelines and refusing to act against it in northern Iraq because it may feel the need to use it in the future.

According to military sources the U.S. has given the go ahead to stir up trouble inside Iran before a possible military operation. The U.S. has already started to train Iranian Azeri dissidents to create an uprising among the huge Azeri community in Iran. The Azeris are being trained in Israel and the U.S. has earmarked a budget of 500 million dollars.

[Brigid]

4. It's official . . .

Bolton is completely out of his mind. Not that we didn't know that already. *shakes head*

[spotbird]

26. He is out of his mind

and we will attack Iran.

[BOSSHOG]

5. I'm not a betting man, but I bet

Generals bolton, krystol, rubin, limbaugh, hannity and others of their ilk will be nowhere near Iran if and when bush does his next stupid act.

[Brigid]

14. I'll take that bet.

Bunch of chickenhawks. :grr:

[BOSSHOG]

16. Hey wait a second

I just lost that bet huh? You tricked me.

[Brigid]

18. Actually, we would both win.

Because everybody knows no Freeper is going to be caught anywhere near a combat zone.

[BOSSHOG]

21. Now you know why I'm not a betting man

but you are absolutely right my Dear. And I can understand the conservative avoidance of war. Why the hell should their "patriotic" blood be shed for our country? Especially when it would be shed for conservative lies. Maybe they aren't as dumb as they act. As the AFLAC goat would say - NAAAAAAH!

[wuushew]

6. How long would it take to setup such an attack?

I would like know the things to look for like carrier deployments to the Persian Gulf and forward basing of USAF bombers to Diego Garcia from the CONTUS.

:nuke:

[YOY]

7. Only if you're fighting it alone John

Armed only with a spork and a soon to be soiled tighty whities.

Neocon f***bag.

[Ian David]

8. If Bolton lost the top three inches of his skull, nobody would notice. n/t

[Gregorian]

9. War scum.

[aquart]

10. Well, so much for the element of surprise.

What are we going to hit them with, John? Spitballs?

[xultar]

12. DING! DING! DING! BRILLIANT!

[Enrique]

13. everybody has dreams

some dream of war.

[raccoon]

15. Great, we don't have the troops to fight the wars we're in now. nt

[madrchsod]

17. so do i !

we should just blow the shit out of the country ,start a world wide recession, and a depression here in america! fuck it-let`s crash this fucking country into a brick wall....:nuke::nuke:

[lovuian]

19. He is only saying what Bush wants him too

they will fail and start WWIII

[Robbien]

28. Not really. Bolton is a true believer.

Right before he left the UN, he got them to sign a resolution that it would be okay for the US to attack Somalia. For the last eight months all Somalia has seen has been death and destruction from US paid Ethiopian death squads and US warplanes.

Bolton is itching to spread the same joy to Iran.

[Cha]

22. Is Iran going to sit still like Iraq did

when bolton and his chickenbushit horrorshow bomb them back into the stone age?

[Supersedeas]

23. Let's see: telegraphing potential plans for withdrawal (Clinton) is bad, but telegraphing potential

plans for an attack on Iran is a-OK.

Rightwing hyper-hypocrisy.

[Jack Rabbit]

24. And I absolutely hope Bolton is one of those loyal Bushies tried fro war crimes someday

[EstimatedProphet]

25. Easy for him to say, since he won't be on the front lines

Maybe he should be.

[sinkingfeeling]

27. Dear John Bolton, I wish someone would ask me what I absolutely hope for

in regard towards yourself and your fellow Neocons. Your ilk should, if there were justice in this country or anywhere in the world, be tried as felons for crime against humanity.

[blues90]

29. If these crazed fools are so determinded as it certainly looks like they

are and have been drumming up this attack on Iran and if they do while as far as I ca see all things point to an attack at some point then let them take full responsibilty for all the deaths and damage they cause from this insanity .

I have and no one here has any control over this insane madness .

It's just like Iraq , why are we taking the responsibility when those here who protested this attack on Iraq and bush stealing the elections , TWICE !

Blame can also be placed on Pelosi and Reid for not doing what they should have done 6 months ago and still won't .

I appears they have no guilt of the blood spilled either so let this be on their heads too if this is even in their life .

[Arugula Latte]

30. I absolutely hope crazed monkeys attack John Bolton within the next six months

[kimmerspixelated]

31. Bolton is beyond embaressing.

Fox news should be eliminated, and the powers that be need to get their heads out of our asses. I am so friggin' ashamed of our leaders.

[Blackhatjack]

32. Don't You Recognize Bolton Diplomacy When You See It??

That is why Bolton was such a success at the UN, remember?

[backscatter712]

33. Yosemite Sam's still at it... n/t

[DFW]

34. Lock and load!

When Bolton and Cheney suit up and lead the charge themselves, I'll
take notice. Republicans are essentially cowards. They only intentionally
attack enemies they think won't shoot back. Look at Reagan's "courageous"
invasion of the Caribbean Island of Grenada. Even Iraq, they thought would
be a cakewalk (i.e. they knew WMD was a fiction). Remember Rummy's "maybe six
days, maybe six weeks, certainly not six months?" They were wrong, but they
EXPECTED an easy time of it. They never entertained the thought of attacking
North Korea, as they have a million-man standing army of brainwashed fanatics.

This is just my personal take on things. Wes Clark thinks the opposite--he thinks
that the invasion of Iran is indeed on the way to becoming reality. This is the
only time I have ever disagreed with him on anything, but he gives more weight to
their foolhardiness and fanaticism and I give more weight to their cowardice. The
bad news is that if they don't attack Iran, it will indeed be due to their
cowardice and not due to any sudden infusion of common sense.