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.”

Our guest blogger is Chris Korzen, executive director of Catholics United and co-author of A Nation for All: How the Catholic Vision of the Common Good Can Save America from the Politics of Division.

After learning of Rev. John Hagee’s sermon proposing that the Holocaust was the fault of Jews themselves, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) finally rejected the Texas megachurch preacher’s endorsement last week.

For once in this sordid affair, McCain has done the right thing. But his move comes only after nearly three months of failed attempts to explain his decision to seek the ill-advised endorsement in the first place. The senator should have bailed out in February, after Hagee’s anti-Catholic views first drew national attention. Instead, he stubbornly refused to reject the pastor’s support, saying only: “In no way did I intend for his endorsement to suggest that I in turn agree with all of Pastor Hagee’s views.”

John McCain earned the country’s respect in his 2000 “Straight-talk” presidential campaign. Offering a new brand of politics, he memorably denounced “agents of intolerance” and said that the politics of division and slander were not his values. But eight years later, things have changed. McCain seems to have decided that in order to win the Republican nomination, he has to embrace what he once denounced.

Hagee’s comments linking Hitler and the Catholic Church are patently offensive. His support for a war with Iran and his comparison of those who support a two-state solution in Israel to Nazis make a mockery of Christian calls for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. And then there’s the mind-boggling suggestion that God sent Hurricane Katrina to punish New Orleans for its residents’ supposed moral indiscretions.

Why did it take all this plus anti-Semitism to force McCain to renounce the endorsement? Hagee’s outrageous views about the Catholic Church alone should have been enough. Read more

Tonight, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) will hold a private fundraiser in Phoenix with President Bush, an event McCain has desperately tried to hide from the public. CNN’s Ed Henry reports that the White House has scheduled another event during the trip to Arizona, resulting in American taxpayers paying for Bush to raise money for McCain:

BLITZER: Ed, who pays when the President goes to a fundraiser like this for John McCain? The McCain campaign or the American taxpayer?

HENRY: They both pay, Wolf. The bottom line is the President is trying to mix in a little official business today. He’s going to speak at cable company…short remarks. That justifies for the White House charging the taxpayers for some of this trip, and the McCain camp picks up the rest, Wolf.

Watch it:

Last week, as Wired Magazine reported, Chuck Fish, a lawyer for Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) campaign, suggested that the senator would support immunity for telecoms that aided the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program only if the companies offered “heartfelt repentance” for illegally spying on Americans:

As president, presumptive Republican nominee John McCain would not support immunity for the telecoms that aided the Bush administration’s warrantless spying program, unless there were revealing Congressional hearings and heartfelt repentance from those telephone and internet companies, a campaign surrogate said Wednesday.

McCain’s campaign is now backtracking from the apology requirement. In a response to the Wired interview, the McCain campaign said McCain has “shown a commitment to winning the battle against Islamic fundamentalists,” arguing that the lawyer “incorrectly represented” McCain’s position:

John McCain believes that as part of this battle, companies who assist the government in good faith should not be punished, but he also believes that Congress must put forth clear guidelines for requesting the participation of private companies, provide proper Congressional oversight of any such participation and protect all Americans privacy. After careful and deliberate consideration, fact-finding, and exploration of options, John McCain has continued to support renewal of the Foreign Intelligence and Surveillance Act. The granting of retroactive immunity supports the continuing efforts of participating companies yet should be done with explicit statements that this is not a blessing for future activities.

McCain has already voted for telecom immunity. In February he said it was “disgraceful” that Congress had not approved a bill expanding the Bush administration’s surveillance powers and granting immunity.

Making the same mistake as Vice President Cheney, the McCain campaign’s statement incorrectly suggests that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is set to expire. As Wired points out, “The Protect America Act, passed last August after much fear mongering, did expire in February, but the orders under that authority remain in effect for a year after they were approved by a judge.”