Asia Times: Bush to attack Iran by August.
Asia Times: Bush to attack Iran by August.
Asia Times is reporting that “a retired US career diplomat and former assistant secretary of state still active in the foreign affairs community” are alleging that the Bush administration “plans to launch an air strike against Iran within the next two months” :
The source, a retired US career diplomat and former assistant secretary of state still active in the foreign affairs community, speaking anonymously, said last week that the US plans an air strike against the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The air strike would target the headquarters of the IRGC’s elite Quds force. With an estimated strength of up to 90,000 fighters, the Quds’ stated mission is to spread Iran’s revolution of 1979 throughout the region.
Last week, the White House denied a story in the Jerusalem Post that claimed that President Bush “intends to attack Iran before the end of his term.”
"That story was inaccurate. Senator Feinstein has not received any briefing – classified or unclassified – from the Administration involving any plans to strike Iran," Philip J. Lavelle, the California Democrat's press secretary, wrote in an e-mail to RAW STORY Wednesday. "In addition, she has not submitted an op-ed to the NYT, or any other paper, on this subject in recent days. She has been a strong advocate for diplomacy with Iran, and will continue to be one." Lugar spokesman Andy Fisher was more succinct: "No briefing. No oped. No conversations. No story."
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Gee, you’d think he would at least wait until October for a true “October” surprise.
May 27th, 2008 at 9:07 pmThere are already “reports” coming out about “western intelligence” supporting bushco’s theory about Iran and WMD. The questions are 1) will congress stand up the this regime (bush’s I mean…) and 2) will the general public swallow the same lies again?
I’d like to believe the answers are “yes” and “no” but I won’t hold my breath.
Madam Speaker, will impeachment remain off the table following the next illegal invasion?
PEACE
May 27th, 2008 at 9:17 pmWe should bomb China too. Ya know, kick ‘em when they’re down and when they least expect it. It’s The Chickenhawk’s Credo.
May 27th, 2008 at 9:20 pmSo, who’s the ’source’? It’s time to name names. especially on something so important. The ‘talking up the war’ is all too familiar and disgusting.
May 27th, 2008 at 9:22 pmQuick way to scrap three Aegis Cruisers and two Aircraft Carriers as well as kill 140,000 boots. Those Iranis have Exocet’s as well as surface to surface missiles and a fanatic ground force. After the Shiite militants in Iraq join the fray, we will be outnumbered at about three to one.
May 27th, 2008 at 9:28 pmIf bush is going to use aircraft carriers and fighters to get Republicans elected in November, shouldn’t he have to reimburse the government for the costs? How much do smart-bombs cost?
May 27th, 2008 at 9:30 pmHe most likely will. He’s insane, he is evil, and he needs to be removed from office. Pelosi needs to go find that impeachment, maybe it’s in the closet or under a desk, and get it back on the table very soon.
May 27th, 2008 at 9:31 pmSeems a very high risk move for Little George. If he does it, we’ll probably see gas up a dollar overnight, and another dollar within a week or so, and then higher while the economy hits the skids. And McCain might as well spend the next six months at his “cabin” in Sedona.
May 27th, 2008 at 9:31 pmSubroutine,
You do not want to know. Just put it in perspective - a college education at an Ivy League college.
May 27th, 2008 at 9:33 pmIt’s more like we won’t nuke you, if you give us access to your Oil Fields.
May 27th, 2008 at 9:34 pmAttack Iran;
Gas will hit at least $10 a gallon, Iran will block the Straights of Hormuz and attack the Saudi oil fields.
As I think about it, maybe $15 a gallon
And sadly that is actually one more reason for this crazy POS to attack Iran.
May 27th, 2008 at 9:34 pmWhen are we going to impeach Bush and Cheney? When?
May 27th, 2008 at 9:36 pmZ,
May 27th, 2008 at 9:42 pmIt is too late. The court process will take 19 to 24 months based on the Clinton debacle. The only hope is declaring the two of them incapable of carrying out their official duties due to insanity.
There are many things which drive Bush in his narcissistic sociopathism, Self Centered Ego, Power, Greed and “Prophetic Inspiration”. In other words Bush is one sick bastard who thinks God wants him to rid the world of evil. Only evil extremists like Bush believe you fight evil with evil. The righteous know the only way to overcome evil is thru love.
Joseph A. Palermo
Joseph A. Palermo|
Bush, Iran, and Armageddon
“Things will turn from horrific to catastrophic in the Middle East. But Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Tim LaHaye, and other “end times” enthusiasts will be creaming themselves with visions of the apocalypse.”
May 27th, 2008 at 9:45 pmhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/ joseph-a-palermo/ bush-iran-and-armageddo_b_38948.html
Zooey, I am starting to think that the dems in power are just as in favor of this, otherwise they would be taking action. And since they are not, they are complicit. Period.
May 27th, 2008 at 9:45 pmAnd then there’s this. I take all this with a grain of salt, but it gives pause:
http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=kylJDm40KY0&feature=related
May 27th, 2008 at 9:48 pmWaltTheMan Says:
May 27th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
Don’t care, Walt. It’s a symbolic move this country needs. :)
May 27th, 2008 at 9:50 pmot, read how scott mclellan throws bush under the bus over at politico.
schadenfreude.
May 27th, 2008 at 9:56 pmZ,
The word that I am most worried about is ‘psychotic’. This nation can be destroyed in an instant if the wrong person is in control.
The framers had no concept of nukes and ICBMs. Their defensive zone was the three mile limit. Now, it is the Earth.
May 27th, 2008 at 10:04 pmI join you in that worry, Walt. :|
May 27th, 2008 at 10:08 pmWell, there’s one way to tell how serious this threat is; if Bush denies it, it’s true.
May 27th, 2008 at 10:10 pmAs I said, take it with a grain of salt. I keep looking for the why’s of what is going on in the world and there is little rational explanations. What else can I say?
May 27th, 2008 at 10:14 pmI just hope they are those cool Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches
May 27th, 2008 at 10:18 pmThat’s simply crazy. Sorry. I can’t wait til they all are tried for war crimes. Bush Administration officials have been charged with war crimes. And I will be there with pom poms defending the honor of our country for the crimes these a$$holes have committed against humanity.
May 27th, 2008 at 10:33 pmMaybe there should be an IQ test before anyone can use “smart” bombs!
May 27th, 2008 at 10:36 pmI went to my Congressman’s website (the one he has</em to pay attention to) and e-mailed him a copy of the entire article. Back on Apr 26, when I met him in person, I told him that I was worried that Bush and Cheney would start a war with Iran. He looked at me like I had two heads.
I reminded him that he and the rest of the House took and oath to support and defend the constitution against the likes of these two. Do it or we’ll vote all of you out. And I will help lead the charge to do that. I am getting tired of this “No Impeachment” policy. It is, literally, unconstitutional.
May 27th, 2008 at 10:42 pmEvil and powerlust comes to mind. And on that scale Bush is low on the radar.
Not so. Evidence, the unprecedented manner in which he’s taken and kept political power. Appointed by his father’s buddies on the Supreme Court, he’s done everything short of actually shutting down the media, to keep all that he does a secret. He believes himself to be accountable to no one so long as we are at war, and he has done all in his power to keep us at war through-out his terms in office. You’d be more credible defending an egg-sucking weasel.
May 27th, 2008 at 10:43 pmAmerica starts sounding like Russia
May 27th, 2008 at 10:45 pmralph the wonder llama Says:
Well, there’s one way to tell how serious this threat is; if Bush denies it, it’s true.
How true. This admin has been plotting this since before they got into office and are determined to get their plan through before leaving office. I agree with being completely astonished by the lack of action by the dems. This is all as scary as it gets. I sure hope there is an election and Obama is somehow allowed to take office. He has promised to investigate…I think we need to hold him to his word. How many acts of treason have there been? How many more will take place before we frog-march them out of the White House?
May 27th, 2008 at 10:46 pmjohnsom Says:
Ms_Joanne Says:
——————————————————————————–
As I said, take it with a grain of salt. I keep looking for the why’s of what is going on in the world and there is little rational explanations. What else can I say?
Evil and powerlust comes to mind. And on that scale Bush is low on the radar. That’s why I defend him, in spite of it all.
It appears you may have watched a little more than the 2 seconds you claim of the linked video, like maybe the whole 10 minutes?
May 27th, 2008 at 10:49 pmI agree that, relatively speaking, Bush Jr. is “low on the radar”, there is still no defense of idiocy…
This seems like the obvious “former assistant Secretary of State” to me, but the person who would know for sure who it is would be Laura Rozen.
Title: Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs
May 27th, 2008 at 10:57 pmName: Martin S. Indyk
State of Residency: District of Columbia
Non-career appointee
Appointment: Oct 14, 1997
Entry on Duty: Oct 14, 1997
Termination of Appointment: Nov 16, 1999
Whoop, - the article also says “The source, an ambassador during the administration of president H W Bush,” and Indyk was not a US ambassador under George H W Bush, only under Clinton, sorry. I shall keep trying to figure out who it can be.
May 27th, 2008 at 11:11 pmBush has already proven his “evil and powerlust” many times over. His whole life reads like a bad novel. I wouldn’t put any action past him, including the use of nukes. Hopefully there are still enough honorable generals to thwart him.
May 27th, 2008 at 11:20 pmHow about Bolton? We shouldn’t assume the leakist is hostile to the strike, should we? Bolton was Assistant Secretary for International Organization Affairs at the Department of State from 1989–1993, Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security from 2001-2005, and U.S. Ambassador to the UN in 2005.
May 27th, 2008 at 11:22 pmSenator Diane Feinstein, Democrat of California and
Senator Richard Lugar, Republican of Indiana better state there opposition soon to the NYT. They need to make sure the public is aware of what may occur. Everyday they wait puts us in more potential danger.
This is another Muslim nation, the ramifications from the other countries in that region would be devistating for our country and our soldiers. Every US soldier and US based company would be possible targets; if Iran applied pressure on our Allies in that region to unite against us.
I do believe they would make sure that all of our Oil Companies infastructure was destroyed. It wouldn’t be the first time a diplomatic embassy was attacked; those would be under heavy assualt also.
I can’t image any of our allies siding with us on this one. Not to mention the damage to the American dollar would be down the drain. Without Oil this country would come to a grinding halt. Iran is the second largest oil exporter in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries , fourth largest in the World.
The impact on the global economy would be devistating. We are all interconnected, what affects one affects all. I just hope that before this may occur that the Congress finally put their collective feet down and stop it before it is too late. Placing them under arrest for Treason works for me, and starting the Articles of Impeachment while they are tucked away in prison.
May 27th, 2008 at 11:25 pmNixon went into Cambodia and that opens the door for Bush to go into Iran. That is the problem with a gutless Congress.
While some people have made some noise about Bush not having the authority to make such a move it would all evaporate once American forces are in harms way. It always does.
Frankly, it is disturbing to hear this same basic story from independent sources.
May 27th, 2008 at 11:43 pmAsia Times: Bush to attack Iran by August.
Where is Congress???? Only they can declare war on Iran. If that stupid giggling murderous idiot gives the command to attack, will our military obey that crazy fool?????
May 27th, 2008 at 11:45 pm“the Quds’ stated mission is to spread Iran’s revolution of 1979 throughout the region.”
Are they the Islamic equivalent of the Salvation Army or what? Coming up on their 30 year anniversary and they are just getting around to influencing Iraq.
May 27th, 2008 at 11:50 pmhad enough Says:
Asia Times: Bush to attack Iran by August.
Where is Congress???? Only they can declare war on Iran. If that stupid giggling murderous idiot gives the command to attack, will our military obey that crazy fool?????
May 27th, 2008 at 11:45 pm
I sure hope not. I sincerely hope that they all remember that they, too, took an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, and that constitution calls for Acts of War to be declared by the Congress, not the President. Any order issued by Bush to attack Iran absent authorization from Congress to do so would be an illegal order. And no soldier has to obey an illegal order. To do so would mean complicity in a crime. Also conduct unbecoming an officer. That’s a big one.
May 27th, 2008 at 11:52 pmWayne A. Schneider
Your words need to reach every home and military base…
May 28th, 2008 at 12:00 amwe are screwed if Iran is attacked by US.
I could be wrong, and I fervently hope that I am — but in my estimation, if the Bush administration launches an air strike on Iran, I think we can assume that the excrement will well and truly hit the spinning blades.
One thing seems abundantly clear — President Bush wants to end his second term in office with a bang. Trouble is, I have the disquieting feeling that if Bush succeeds in his plan, the bang which he plans to signal his departure from office might very well trigger others which he hasn’t planned on…and that some of these could potentially end up being measured in megatons. Actually, there are moments when I suspect that this is what Bush actually wants — when I suspect that he’s so completely out of touch with reality and so completely wrapped up in the idea of being guided by God that he’s actually trying to bring about the End Times that many Christian evangelicals and their supporters think will occur within their lifetimes. That’s one of the things that has always worried me about Bush…he’s always struck me as the sort of leader who’s willing to have the entire world and all of its people literally go up in flames as long as it supports his messianic complex (and I do think he has one).
May 28th, 2008 at 12:05 amhttp://static.crooksandliars.com/ 2008/ 05/ mcbush-mccain-bush.jpg
May 28th, 2008 at 12:11 amI have been collecting the successive youtube versions of the video files of a long interview by Paul Jay, who runs the independent video news outfit RealNews, with Gareth Porter, who is an expert on US policy in the Iran/Iraq theater, and whose articles appear at AntiWar.com, IPS, etc. The interview may also be found at RealNews’ own site:
http://therealnews.com/t/index.php
Anyway, they agree that Cheney would dearly love to push Bush into authorising an air attack on the Qods force bases before the end of the Bush term, but the problem is that there is no physical evidence of Iranian-supplied weapons in the Iraq theater - several press conferences on this by the US military in Iraq have been failures PR-wise because of this lack of hard evidence. You can also follow this in the ‘Babylon and Beyond’ blog at the LA Times.
May 28th, 2008 at 12:19 amJustin Franks, author of Bush on the Couch, may have said it best.
“George Bush is a dangerous, cruel, ignorant man.”
He belongs in a rubber room, not the Oval Office.
Here’s the link to a speech and Q&A by Dr. Franks. Sorry, it
s about an hour long.
http://fora.tv/ 2008/ 01/ 19/ Justin_Frank_Inside_the_Mind_of_President_Bush
May 28th, 2008 at 12:21 amPastor Hagee thinks he’s a prophet. He wants this. He says the bible predicted it. Any day now.
May 28th, 2008 at 12:52 amChimpy and Cheney can make it happen.
It’s the end of the world as we know it. He feels fine.
According to Seymour Hersch, the attack would have happened nearly a year ago, if not for opposition from the Pentagon. He said Cheney’s side has been strongly pushing for it.
May 28th, 2008 at 12:58 amSmart bombs. Stupid presidents.
May 28th, 2008 at 1:01 amRe: Keith
May 28th, 2008 at 1:02 amCheney has a history of getting his way.
terrifying… damn them all…
but, be thankful for the whistleblowers,
for they may be able to save the world…
…
May 28th, 2008 at 1:19 amfor what it’s worth…
Editorial
Iran and the Inspectors
Published: May 28, 2008
Amid all of the White House’s saber-rattling, it is tempting to discount Iran’s genuine misbehavior. The latest report from the International Atomic Energy Agency is a grim reminder that Tehran is pressing ahead with its nuclear program, and the United States and its allies don’t have a strategy for containing it.
[…] [DO, please, read it]
This latest report is alarming, but it must not be used as an excuse by Washington hard-liners to launch another war. There are no good military options.
The United States and the other major powers — Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany — have yet to put together a serious package of incentives and sanctions that might persuade Iran to change course.
That must include a credible American offer of security guarantees and normalized relations if Tehran abandons any nuclear weapons ambitions. If Iran persists, it must face sanctions with a lot more bite than Russia and China have been willing to consider, including a broader ban on doing business with Iranian banks and bans on arms sales and new investments in Iran.
Javier Solana, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, is scheduled to visit Tehran next month and present an enhanced incentives package. Insiders say it differs little from one proposed in 2006. We hope they are wrong. Before Mr. Solana goes, the major powers need to come up with a more compelling list of rewards and punishments. Too much time has already been wasted.
http://www.nytimes.com/ 2008/ 05/ 28/ opinion/ 28wed2.html?ref=opinion
…
g’nite… and good luck, to us…
May 28th, 2008 at 1:52 amThe most recent of the interview segments I mentioned between Paul Jay and Gareth Porter is specifically titled “Will Cheney Get His War?” and it’s here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Gb5S1-QIgE
Please don’t imagine it is only Larouchies or something who pick on Cheney all the time and treat Bush as a zero. Over the last few days I have been reading the Arizona Republic’s editorials, because they are real dry right wing stuff, and they are busy painting McCain as the hawk to Bush’s wishy washy dove, which fits right in with the idea that Bush only does anything war-like when Cheney pushes him.
May 28th, 2008 at 1:52 am“The court process will take 19 to 24 months based on the Clinton debacle.”
There’s no reason to base it on the Clinton impeachment.
Impeachment can take one day. No kidding. The House can refer by 9:00 am, the Senate finish it up after lunch, and by close of business, a new President could be sworn into office. One day.
May 28th, 2008 at 2:11 amkaty, there is no evidence of an iranian nuclear weapons program subsequent to 2003. There is nothing but that goddam laptop, which the Iranians maintain is a complete forgery, and which has been debunked over and over - here is Gareth Porter on the laptop:
http://antiwar.com/porter/?articleid=12443
If you had wasted as much time as me untangling the twisted insinuations that the mainstream journalists wrap around this thing, you would eventually agree there is nothing else except the laptop. It just goes round and round, and they keep paraphrasing the same claims, and pretending they are new claims and relate to new evidence. We saw all this with Iraq. Iran can’t prove a negative - they can’t prove they don’t have a hidden facility somewhere. Whenever elBaradei gets tired of this, the US just parachutes in someone else to start the whole circus up all over again (currently Gregory Schulte), which they have the right to do as IAEA members, and elBaradei gets ignored.
May 28th, 2008 at 2:48 amIAEA: No N-weaponization found in Iran
http://www.presstv.ir/ detail.aspx?id=57458§ionid=351020104
“We haven’t seen indications or any concrete evidence that Iran is building a nuclear weapon and I’ve been saying that consistently for the last five years,”
Read this to inform yourselves about former US adventures with Iran:
http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/ timeline.jsp?timeline=us_plans_to_use_military_force_against_iran
Some examples:
“Ford Administration Backs Iran’s Nuclear Plans”
“Kissinger Outlines US Plans to Help Iran Achieve Nuclear Capability”
“1953: Iranian Government Overthrown by Rebels and CIA”
“1976: Ford Gives Permission to Sell Nuclear Technology to Iran”
“1981: Israel Begins Selling US-Made Arms to Iran”
There lots and lots more interesting information. Please read.
May 28th, 2008 at 3:21 amkaty –
The instant Iran develops nukes, WMDs & effective weapons systems, the incredibly efficient Mossad will know about it — and Israel will turn Iran into a parking lot.
Of course, the same was true for Iraq. But why go to the trouble when the USA is headed up by numb-nuts? Works out fine — IF you’re the Mossad.
May 28th, 2008 at 4:01 amWe have been hearing rumors of this for years now, and yet it hasn’t happened…although I do think that Bush would love to saddle the next President with the unenviable task of having us involved in another disastrous war.
If McCain and Obama do not speak up about this, then both are complicit in its fulfillment.
May 28th, 2008 at 4:10 ampete Says:
Hey Pete, thanks for the Justin Frank link. I’ll have to get his updated version of the book. I’m sure the new material will be worth it! Well worth the hour to listen to his thoughts.
May 28th, 2008 at 4:16 amThe Bilderbergers will vote on this in their June 6 meeting in Virginia. This might be a false alarm to boost oil a bit, it slumped to under 135 dollars a barrel recently, some of our speculators took a beating.
May 28th, 2008 at 4:51 amThese chickenlittle, sky is falling, mofos have bee saying this for 7 years. Every 3 months something pops up that says Bush is going to attack Iran. He’s not, he has no army to do it with. Do you ever think these flares are just part of the start departments counterintelligence operations.
May 28th, 2008 at 5:22 amSTATE no START department
May 28th, 2008 at 5:23 amI agree, pretty much, but the low-level terrorist campaigns conducted by the US/UK inside Iran are unfortunately quite real:
May 28th, 2008 at 5:49 amhttp://www.nytimes.com/ 2008/ 05/ 09/ world/ middleeast/ 09iran.html
I agree with the majority of posters here.
We’ve been lied to so much ain’t nobody knows what the truth is anymore.
Bush and his criminal thugs are indeed dangerous - which is why they should have been impeached. I know, I know, 30 right wing facist Senators control the destiny of the country and the founding fathers’ remedy is worthless.
May 28th, 2008 at 7:16 amNow I’ve found the name I was looking for : Olli Heinonen.
“Iran has in recent weeks held talks with the IAEA to examine the allegations that Tehran has studied how to design nuclear weapons. The claims stem from intelligence provided to the IAEA by some member states. They were first presented at a closed-door briefing to diplomats at IAEA headquarters in Vienna on February 25 by its deputy director general Olli Heinonen.”
Now if you look at his biog he seems completely clean:
May 28th, 2008 at 7:20 amhttp://www.iaea.org/About/DGC/heinonen_bio.html
but he is acting as a US stooge on this, IMHO.
Off Topic…
From CNN:
“Frances Townsend, former Homeland Security adviser to Bush, said advisers to the president should speak up when they have policy concerns.”
“Scott never did that on any of these issues as best I can remember or as best as I know from any of my White House colleagues,” said Townsend, now a CNN contributor. “For him to do this now strikes me as self-serving, disingenuous and unprofessional.”
What a laugh… Scott McClellan was not an adviser by any stretch of the imagination. he was paid to read from the script he was handed.
“Fox News contributor and former White House adviser Karl Rove said on that network Tuesday that the excerpts from the book he’s read sound more like they were written by a “left-wing blogger” than his former colleague.”
Anyone here ghost writing for scotty? LOL
P.S. Apologies to Rowan Berkeley for my cheap shots and pitful puns of the other day….
May 28th, 2008 at 7:44 amaccepted, old boy
May 28th, 2008 at 7:47 amright on dude
May 28th, 2008 at 7:52 amThe House must immediately pass a resolution that if Bush attacks Iran without congressional approval, he will be impeached.
My own preference is to start setting up a war crimes tribunal. This will be an informal process until January, but it will give the Bushies something to think about.
Bush has almost destroyed our republic already. If he attacks Iran, and Iran responds by sinking a carrier or two, we could well have martial law, no election in November, and the death of the American Republic.
This insane, smirking frat boy has to be stopped. It’s gut check time for our Democratic congress.
May 28th, 2008 at 8:04 amnevar is raven in reverse, now I look at it properly.
May 28th, 2008 at 8:11 amDay One -
The War With Iran
By Douglas Herman
A Rense.com Exclusive
1-9-5
The war began as planned. The Israeli pilots took off well before dawn and streaked across Lebanon and northern Iraq, high above Kirkuk. Flying US-made F-15 and F-16s, the Israelis separated over the mountains of western Iran, the pilots gesturing a last minute show of confidence in their mission, maintaining radio silence.
Just before the sun rose over Tehran, moments before the Muslim call to prayer, the missiles struck their targets. While US Air Force AWACS planes circled overhead–listening, watching, recording–heavy US bombers followed minutes later. Bunker-busters and mini-nukes fell on dozens of targets while Iranian anti-aircraft missiles sped skyward.
The ironically named Bushehr nuclear power plant crumbled to dust. Russian technicians and foreign nationals scurried for safety. Most did not make it.
Targets in Saghand and Yazd, all of them carefully chosen many months before by Pentagon planners, were destroyed. The uranium enrichment facility in Natanz; a heavy water plant and radioisotope facility in Arak; the Ardekan Nuclear Fuel Unit; the Uranium Conversion Facility and Nuclear Technology Center in Isfahan; were struck simultaneously by USAF and Israeli bomber groups.
The Tehran Nuclear Research Center, the Tehran Molybdenum, Iodine and Xenon Radioisotope Production Facility, the Tehran Jabr Ibn Hayan Multipurpose Laboratories, the Kalaye Electric Company in the Tehran suburbs were destroyed.
Iranian fighter jets rose in scattered groups. At least those Iranian fighter planes that had not been destroyed on the ground by swift and systematic air strikes from US and Israeli missiles. A few Iranian fighters even launched missiles, downing the occasional attacker, but American top guns quickly prevailed in the ensuing dogfights.
The Iranian air force, like the Iranian navy, never really knew what hit them. Like the slumbering US sailors at Pearl Harbor, the pre-dawn, pre-emptive attack wiped out fully half the Iranian defense forces in a matter of hours.
By mid-morning, the second and third wave of US/Israeli raiders screamed over the secondary targets. The only problem now, the surprising effectiveness of the Iranian missile defenses. The element of surprise lost, US and Israeli warplanes began to fall from the skies in considerable numbers to anti-aircraft fire.
At 7:35 AM, Tehran time, the first Iranian anti-ship missile destroyed a Panamanian oil tanker, departing from Kuwait and bound for Houston. Launched from an Iranian fighter plane, the Exocet split the ship in half and set the ship ablaze in the Strait of Hormuz. A second and third tanker followed, black smoke billowing from the broken ships before they blew up and sank. By 8:15 AM, all ship traffic on the Persian Gulf had ceased.
US Navy ships, ordered earlier into the relative safety of the Indian Ocean, south of their base in Bahrain, launched counter strikes. Waves of US fighter planes circled the burning wrecks in the bottleneck of Hormuz but the Iranian fighters had fled.
At 9 AM, Eastern Standard Time, many hours into the war, CNN reported a squadron of suicide Iranian fighter jets attacking the US Navy fleet south of Bahrain. Embedded reporters aboard the ships–sending live feeds directly to a rapt audience of Americans just awakening–reported all of the Iranian jets destroyed, but not before the enemy planes launched dozens of Exocet and Sunburn anti-ship missiles. A US aircraft carrier, cruiser and two destroyers suffered direct hits. The cruiser blew up and sank, killing 600 men. The aircraft carrier sank an hour later.
By mid-morning, every military base in Iran was partially or wholly destroyed. Sirens blared and fires blazed from hundreds of fires. Explosions rocked Tehran and the electrical power failed. The Al Jazeerah news station in Tehran took a direct hit from a satellite bomb, leveling the entire block.
At 9:15 AM, Baghdad time, the first Iranian missile struck the Green Zone. For the next thirty minutes a torrent of missiles landed on GPS coordinates carefully selected by Shiite militiamen with cell phones positioned outside the Green Zone and other permanent US bases. Although US and Israeli bomber pilots had destroyed 90% of the Iranian missiles, enough Shahabs remained to fully destroy the Green Zone, the Baghdad airport, and a US Marine base. Thousands of unsuspecting US soldiers died in the early morning barrage. Not surprisingly, CNN and Fox withheld the great number of casualties from American viewers.
By 9:30 AM, gas stations on the US east coast began to raise their prices. Slowly at first and then altogether in a panic, the prices rose. $4 a gallon, and then $5 and then $6, the prices skyrocketed. Worried motorists, rushing from work, roared into the nearest gas station, radios blaring the latest reports of the pre-emptive attack on Iran. While fistfights broke out in gas stations everywhere, the third Middle Eastern war had begun.
In Washington DC, the spin began minutes after the first missile struck its intended target. The punitive strike–not really a war said the harried White House spokesman–would further democracy and peace in the Middle East. Media pundits mostly followed the party line. By ridding Iran of weapons of mass destruction, Donald Rumsfeld declared confidently on CNN, Iran might follow in the footsteps of Iraq, and enjoy the hard won fruits of freedom.
The president scheduled a speech at 2 PM. Gas prices rose another two dollars before then. China and Japan threatened to dump US dollars. Gold rose $120 an ounce. The dollar plummeted against the Euro.
CNN reported violent, anti-American protests in Paris, London, Rome, Berlin and Dublin. Fast food franchises throughout Europe, carrying American corporate logos, were firebombed.
A violent coup toppled the pro-American Pakistan president. On the New York Stock Exchange, prices fell in a frenzy of trading–except for the major petroleum producers. A single, Iranian Shahab missile struck Tel Aviv, destroying an entire city block. Israel vowed revenge, and threatened a nuclear strike on Tehran, before a hastily called UN General Assembly in New York City eased tensions.
An orange alert in New York City suddenly reddened to a full-scale terror alarm when a package detonated on a Manhattan subway. Mayor Bloomberg declared martial law. Governor Pataki ordered the New York National Guard fully mobilized, mobilizing what few national guardsmen remained in the state.
President Bush looked shaken at 2 PM. The scroll below the TV screen reported Persian Gulf nations halting production of oil until the conflict could be resolved peacefully. Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, announced a freeze in oil deliveries to the US would begin immediately. Tony Blair offered to mediate peace negotiations, between the US and Israel and Iran, but was resoundingly rejected.
By 6 PM, Eastern Standard Time, gas prices had stabilized at just below $10 a gallon. A Citgo station in Texas, near Fort Sam Houston Army base, was firebombed. No one claimed responsibility. Terrorism was not ruled out.
At sunset, the call to prayer–in Tehran, Baghdad, Islamabad, Ankara, Jerusalem, Jakarta, Riyadh–sounded uncannily like the buzzing of enraged bees.
May 28th, 2008 at 8:14 amMakes sense. Bush is desperate to attack Iran before he leaves office.
But he cant bomb Iran too close to the general election. I think the intention is to bomb Iranian Quds force training camps and/or nuclear facilities and claim it was a great success with the usual propaganda. Claim it reduced Iranian influence and support of militias inside Iraq and lay it up for McCain to push the “bomb Iran works!”-message to win the election. A few months is not enough to expose the truth about the strike, especially not during frantic election campaign coverage
May 28th, 2008 at 8:21 amPrecisely, my good man.
May 28th, 2008 at 8:30 am:)
Kay,
Thanks for the article. These are dark days.
May 28th, 2008 at 8:33 amIs he trying to put Impeachment back on the table?
May 28th, 2008 at 8:48 amRowan Berkeley Says:
nevar is raven in reverse, now I look at it properly.
May 28th, 2008 at 8:11 am
Uh oh, he’s worked it out. Get the pickup and shovel… ;)
May 28th, 2008 at 8:49 am#75:
nineteen84,
You’re welcome.
You got that right. In keep wondering though, when will the 9/11: The Sequel occur?
Time is running out. If another false-flag event does occur on US soil, this scenario could go either way for the Criminals at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
One could say that the Bush Team didn’t protect the US or they’ll just spin it with Propaganda to attack Iran.
Then again, the clock is ticking for The Cabal. We may all wake up one morning and see oil production halted, our men and women in Iraq all killed and gas at $10 a gallon.
We are living in dark days. And I’m afraid it’s going to get a hell of a lot more darker.
May 28th, 2008 at 8:55 amAftermath: Day 2 of the War With Iran
by Douglas Herman
Exclusive to STR
January 31, 2007
In the first fierce day of war, when coordinated air strikes on Iranian targets destroyed most of the Iranian air force and navy, the US military appeared invincible again. Wrecking a second-rate military power does that for an imperial war machine.
By the second day of the war, however, most American and Iranian citizens wished for peace. Unfortunately, wars are always easier to get into than out of. While the war planners in the Pentagon and Israel had devised a workable plan to force Iran into war, using a fake attack on US warships by Iranian gunboats (as the faked Tonkin Gulf attack initiated the Vietnam War), the US Navy fared far worse than the planners wished.
In 1987-88, during the First US-Iran Gulf war, the combined US Navy, Navy Seals, Marines and Army copters easily destroyed the navy of Iran in a single day. Yet Iranian gunboats continued to harass US shipping in that undeclared war, culminating in the USS Vincennes shooting down an unarmed Iranian jumbo jet while in Iran water.
Nearly 20 years later, after being armed with Russian and Chinese weapons, the Iranian defensive forces proved far more capable than the civilian wizards at the Pentagon predicted. Before the war, the chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, General Yahya Rahim Safavi, said the advanced missile system served “to show our deterrent and defensive power to trans-regional enemies, and we hope they will understand the message.”
By the second day, the message became clearer: Iran was no longer the pushover of years past. The combined effect of Sunburn, Exocet and Yakhonts missiles striking several US Navy ships fleeing the fishbowl of the Persian Gulf was an unforgettable sight. So unforgettable that CNN and Fox chose not to show them.
According to Mark Gaffney: “At the time of the Falklands war the Argentine air force possessed only five Exocets, yet managed to sink two ships. With enough of them, the Argentineans might have sunk the entire British fleet, and won the war.”
By contrast, the Iranians, cognizant of their defeat at the hands of the Iraqi and US forces in 1987-88, aware of the twin threat from Israel and the US, had focused heavily on defensive weaponry, supplied to them by Russian and Chinese manufacturers.
“The Russian SS-N-22.Sunburn (Moskit), which technical journals and experts have termed the most effective and lethal anti-ship weapon extant, is far cheaper to produce than a fighter plane or a missile destroyer, cruiser or aircraft carrier,” wrote Gaffney before the war. To make matters worse for US Navymen, the Russians provided the SS-NX-26 Yakhonts anti-ship missiles to Iran, reported to possess Mach 2.9 speed and a range of 180 miles.
The width of the Persian Gulf? 100-180 miles.
The immediate closure of the Persian Gulf to oil tankers from six nations provided a huge boost to peace advocates. By the second day of the war with Iran, with US Navy ships ablaze and sinking, with dire forecasts of worldwide fuel shortages, with gas prices spiking at $10 a gallon in some places, with increasing calls for impeachment appearing in the mainstream media, with environmentalist decrying the spread of radiation from the bomb blasted atomic sites in Iran, suddenly the neocon-sponsored war with Iran no longer seemed like such a good idea.
Despite the claimed success of the pre-emptive attack on Iran, despite the round-the-clock appearances of neocons on most US news channels, the fallout from the war, both in Iran and America, had become exceedingly toxic.
By the middle of the second day, with reports of missile strikes on the Green Zone, the media spin became harder to control. The glorious flag-waving patriotism that followed 911 and the approach of the Iraq War never materialized. Along the smalltown streets of America, fewer folks unfurled a flag. Instead, lines of panicked motorists, faces stricken by the new reality of another war, a war they had chosen to ignore for so long, unfurled into every gas station in America as a frightened mob. Most rushed to the pumps with a single thought in mind: I am going to fill my SUV to the top and woe be to anyone who tries to stop me.
Predictably the price of platinum, gold and silver rose. Gold topped $1000 an ounce while silver, the poor man’s gold, approached $50. Predictably, the US dollar fell, as nations as diverse as China and Kuwait began dumping greenbacks for gold. Predictably, most stocks not related to war industries tumbled. Housing starts dipped and sales dried up.
And all because of an ill-conceived war designed by a few Israel-centric US leaders with lots to gain and little to lose.
The retaliatory strikes by US carrier-based fighter planes that struck the Iranian oil platforms along Bandar Abbas and left them ablaze never appeared on American television. Likewise the attacks on civilian infrastructure in Iran by Israeli and US warplanes. These were purely punitive attacks by US Navy fliers in revenge for ship losses in the Persian Gulf. The war with Iran had become a retaliatory war, a war of attrition, by the second day.
Yet throughout the Middle East, the television coverage by Al Jazeera of bomb damage to bridges, waterworks, power stations and oil platforms–not to mention schools, mosques and houses—only served to drive a wider wedge between US and their few remaining Islamic and European allies.
Throughout the first week, while US and Israeli fighter bombers attacked Iran at will, suffering an occasional loss, Iranian missiles rained down on US troops huddled in semi-permanent bases in Iraq. Resistance in Iraq grew as the war with Iran waxed and waned and US casualties rose.
Meanwhile another sort of war raged at home, another unexpected resistance. The American public, too long acquiescent, took to the streets, took to campuses, courthouses and public squares, loud, outrageous and strong. Uncivil disobedience, a public strength the powerful always feared, had returned to America three decades later.
The White House threatened to mobilize troops to handle dissidents at home, but Keith Olbermann asked President Bush: “Sir, from where do you intend to get those troops?”
Public support for the Iraq and Iran wars and support for the Bush administration fell to record lows. In Congress, the docile, do-nothing Democrats proved less adversarial than the tougher Republicans. But in the streets, where the fate of any nation thrives or dies, the spirit of Americans grew angrier and angrier. For each spike in crude prices, each report of new losses, each report of new atrocities inflicted on Iran, the calls for a change became cruder and more violent.
The first to fall, surprisingly, was Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Imams, wielding real power in Iran, disapproved of the increasingly bellicose stance of Ahmadinejad and the destruction of the war, forcing his resignation.
Later in the week, calls for the impeachment of George Bush forced a brokered peace deal and a hurried vote by the House of Representatives passing articles of impeachment by an overwhelming majority.
The US Senate, under as much fire as the troops in Iraq, dragged their feet but the words “High Crimes” began to filter into their brains by the end of the first week of the war.
May 28th, 2008 at 9:01 amI know it’s bad form to tout one’s own blog, but I have put the latest Pepe Escobar video on the IAEA Iran report, a link to the “leaked” pdf of the Report, and a copy of the paragraphs concerning the alleged weapons program, with the key sentences highlighted in red, all in one post, on my blog, here:
May 28th, 2008 at 9:14 amhttp://tinyurl.com/6gatn4
Iran new speaker in nuclear watchdog threat
CNN - 1 hour ago
TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) — Ali Larijani, formerly Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, was overwhelmingly elected as parliament speaker Wednesday — and immediately warned that Tehran may reconsider cooperating with the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency.
Iran speaker warns nuclear agency BBC News
Iran on the offensive over nuclear issue Times Online
Xinhua - AFP - Reuters India - New York Times
stir it up…
May 28th, 2008 at 9:14 amI feel really guilty about one thing : I learned the gentle art of ripping the guts out of a security story, and exhibiting its still beating heart within a matter of minutes, from reading Laura Rozen, yet everywhere I go I keep bad-mouthing her, and calling her a CIA stooge. Why am I so cruel?
May 28th, 2008 at 9:21 amThe average American has their head up their butt. They are too busy watching “American Idle”
What is going to take?
$10 for a gallon gas to go from point A to point B?
May 28th, 2008 at 9:26 amIt’s 3:00 am in George W.’s late night RISK game, otherwise known as his presidency. Having downed a beer bong full of courage, Bush is ready to roll the dice.
May 28th, 2008 at 9:31 amTHEN can we arrest him?
May 28th, 2008 at 9:48 amPlease note:
1) Resolution declaring the Iranian Kuds Force a terrorist organization passed by Congress in 2007; 2) Increasing drumbeat of war carried by the MSM (those liberals!) 3) Constant denials by the Bush administration of any intention for military action against Iran and using diplomacy (sound familiar?); 4) Adm. Fallon is removed as head of Centcom, who had declared no strike against Iran would occur on his watch; 5) Strikes occur and Bush administration justifies by stating 2002 Resolution gave them the authorization they needed; 6) Attacks inside U.S. or uprising among citizens and Bush declares martial law due to a “national emergency”; 7) the elections are suspended due to this “national emergency.”
Bush/Cheney have no intention of leaving office.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:16 amyou need to concentrate your mind, kilo, you sound totally over caffeinated.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:31 amWhat Kilo is exhibiting is called the Moro reflex. When a baby monkey feels itself losing the grip on it’s mother’s hair, it freaks out and clutches harder.
Poor Kilo’s world is collapsing around him. His God Bush is being exposed for the lying POS he is, the Repugs are heading for a cliff this November, even the fat maggot KKKarl is being forced to testify.
That rancid stench is the desperation of the rightwingers.
May 28th, 2008 at 11:12 amMost of the Dems in Washington will back Bushco’s attack on Iran, because it’s about maintaining and expanding U.S. hegemony in the Middle East, particularly around the control of oil. The U.S. won’t tolerate having the mullahs in power now that oil’s become so precious. The U.S. sanctions prevent the mullahs from exploiting their own oil because they could use it as a economic weapon and to pay for the extension of Iranian influence in the Middle East. The U.S. won’t brook any competition. Iran has no more nukes than Iraq had WMDs. The nukes are the false claim to hide the real reason for the attack: oil and power.
May 28th, 2008 at 11:42 amword!
May 28th, 2008 at 11:53 amYou people think the US will attack without cause….Bush will set up a FALSE FLAG operation to make it look like Irans qued force started the fight. http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com learn how these people work the system to manipulate you. WATCH LOOK LEARN….ACT.
May 28th, 2008 at 1:53 pmA friend of mine serving in Iraq called me last night and said that they were briefed that Iran would be the next battle front. G.I. rumors? I hope so.
Well, that explains why they want to keep boots on the ground close by.
This must be stopped.
May 28th, 2008 at 6:49 pmPutting a Rumor to Rest
Laura Rozen, MoJo Blog, May 28, 2008
Yesterday, Asia Times ran a story saying ‘Bush plans air strikes’ on Iran by August. “After receiving secret briefings on the planned air strike, Senator Diane Feinstein, Democrat of California, and Senator Richard Lugar, Republican of Indiana, said they would write a New York Times op-ed piece ‘within days’, the source said last week, to express their opposition,” the outlet reported, adding that the oped hadn’t materialized. I chased down Senator Lugar’s spokesman today who told me the story is flat out untrue. Senator Lugar “wasn’t briefed, there’s no oped,” says Andy Fischer, spokesman for Lugar, who is vice chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Fischer said he’d been getting calls about the bogus report for two days. Trita Parsi, the head of the pro-engagement National Iranian American Council and a former Congressional staffer, tells me he too heard the rumor of Congressional briefing on Iran, but that the whole thing “doesn’t make sense to me though.” Parsi said.
May 29th, 2008 at 12:37 amand now for syria!
Search Is Urged for Syrian Nuclear Sites:
US Presses UN on Three Alleged Facilities
Joby Warrick, Robin Wright, WaPo, May 29, 2008
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ wp-dyn/ content/ article/ 2008/ 05/ 28/ AR2008052803061.html
The Bush administration is pressing UN inspectors to broaden their search for possible secret nuclear facilities in Syria, hinting that Damascus’s nuclear program might be bigger than the single alleged reactor destroyed by Israeli warplanes last year. At least three sites have been identified by US officials and passed along to the IAEA, which is negotiating with Syria for permission to conduct inspections in the country, according to US government officials and Western diplomats. US officials want to know if the suspect sites may have been support facilities for the alleged Al Kibar reactor destroyed in an Israeli air raid Sept. 6, the sources said. The UN nuclear watchdog, which has been seeking access to the Al Kibar site since shortly after the bombing, has acknowledged receiving requests to expand the scope of its inspections, but provided no details. US government officials declined to describe the specific sites that have drawn interest, or to discuss how they were identified.
May 29th, 2008 at 3:26 am