The U.S. Has Plans to Invade Iran Before Bush's Term Ends

[Guest guest]

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10441.htm

 

The U.S. Has Plans to Invade Iran Before Bush's Term Ends

 

By Walter C. Uhler

 

09/29/05 " ICH " -- -- Bill Gertz is a right-wing national security

reporter for the Rev. Sun Yung Moon's neo-fascist newspaper, The

Washington Times. He's also a spigot from which flows much classified

information illegally leaked by like-minded " patriots " seeking to

advance their hawkish agenda in the military-industrial-congressional

complex. And, frankly speaking, that's the only reason I pay any

attention to him.

 

So I was hardly surprised when, on September 16, 2005, Gertz reported

on the Bush administration's " computer slide presentation. " which was

aimed at persuading whoever would listen that Iran is working

feverishly to build nuclear weapons.

 

According to Gertz, the report claims: " Iran's nuclear program is

well-scaled for a weapons capability, as a comparison to [Pakistan's]

nuclear weapons infrastructure shows…When one also considers Iran's

concealment and deception activities, it's difficult to escape the

conclusion that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons. "

 

The report also states that " Iran's uranium ore resources are

insufficient for Tehran to produce enough fuel for civilian electrical

power generating reactors. 'However, Iran's uranium resources are more

than sufficient to support a nuclear weapons capability.' " [u.S.

Report Says Iran Seeks To Acquire Nuclear Weapons, " Washington Times,

16 September 2005]

 

Unlike the Washington Post's article on the subject two days earlier,

Gertz predictably failed to mention that the slide show " dismisses

ambiguities in the evidence…and omits alternative explanations under

debate among intelligence analysts. " He also failed to mention that

several diplomats " said the slide show reminded them of the flawed

presentation on Iraq's weapons programs made by then-secretary of

state Colin L. Powell to the UN Security Council in February 2003 "

[ " US Deploys Slide Show to Press Case Against Iran, " Washington Post,

14 September 2005]

 

Moreover, in order to serve as water boy for the Bush administration,

Gertz had to ignore (or discount) the recent report from Britain's

prestigious International Institute for Strategic Studies, which

concluded that Iran " was at least five years away from producing

sufficient material for 'a single nuclear weapon,' " Instead, Gertz

obediently and dutifully noted that the Bush administration " is

pressing the IAEA [international Atomic Energy Agency] to refer the

issue… to the United Nations Security Council, " which " could then

impose economic sanctions against Iran or possibly a future

authorization for the use of force. " [ibid.] Ah yes, " authorization

for the use of force " —the source of many a neocon and chickenhawk wet

dream.

 

But much more disconcerting than Gertz's piece was one written by

Claude Salhani on 22 September 2005 for the same loony " Moonie "

scandal sheet. Salhani shamelessly reintroduced the tactics, which

proved so successful in inflaming a frightened American public about

the threat posed by Iraq. He invoked the words of an Iranian dissident

(today's Ahmad Chalabi), as well as former U.S. government officials

(seeking to " empower resistance " inside Iran), to make the claim the

Iran is, in fact, " gearing for war " with the United States.

 

No, notwithstanding the inflammatory title that the Moonie editors

attached to Salhani's article— " Is Iran Geared For War? " —Iran is not

planning to attack the United States. Instead, it is merely taking

very prudent measures to defend itself against a possible illegal

preventive war instigated by the " war party " in the Bush administration.

 

Although America's past is riddled with instances in which a " war

party " —remember the " War Hawks " Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun?—within

a given party or administration labored mightily to con its subjects

into wars of aggression, it's America's singular misfortune today to

be guided by a " war party " in and around the Bush administration,

which consists of neocons and chickenhawks who seek to compensate for

personal cowardice or neglect of military duty (especially during the

Vietnam war) with martial rhetoric and by sending courageous soldiers

to fight, kill, and perhaps die for them. Note President George W.

Bush's " Bring 'em on. "

 

But it is America's greater misfortune today to be informed by a

so-called " watch dog " mainstream news media that supinely reports this

war party's will to kill without insisting upon the hard evidence

necessary for justifying war. Although they failed miserably in their

2002-03 coverage of Iraq, unfortunately this is not a recent

phenomenon. For as John L. Harper has recently concluded: " The

premises on which the United States decided to go to war in 1812,

1846, 1898, 1917, 1950, 1964–65 and 2002–03, were largely false. "

[John L. Harper, " Anatomy of a Habit: America's Unnecessary Wars, "

Survival, Summer 2005, p. 79]

 

But, forget the past. Just a few days ago, on September 26, 2005, The

Telegraph of Calcutta, India issued an astounding report that has yet

to cause a ripple within America's mainstream news media. In the fifth

paragraph of the article, " Gulf factor key to PM's Iran vote

decision, " were the following words: " Top-ranking Americans have told

equally top-ranking Indians in recent weeks that THE US HAS PLANS TO

INVADE IRAN BEFORE BUSH'S TERM ENDS " (author's emphasis).

 

Thoughtful, decent, moral citizens of these United States: I urge you

to write to the editors of your local and national news outlets to

insist that they authenticate or repudiate the information reported by

The Telegraph. And I further urge you to write your congressman (or

congresswoman) to inquire about their knowledge concerning this

assertion. Finally, I urge you to write to President Bush, Secretary

of State Condoleezza Rice and/or Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld

to inquire about their plans to invade Iran before they leave office.

 

We simply cannot permit the Bush " war party " to run roughshod over

America's democracy once again.

 

Walter C. Uhler <waltuhler is an independent scholar and

freelance writer whose work has been published in numerous

publications, including The Nation, the Bulletin of the Atomic

Scientists, the Journal of Military History, the Moscow Times and the

San Francisco Chronicle. He also is President of the Russian-American

International Studies Association (RAISA). Visit his website

http://www.walter-c-uhler.com