Does Bush Think War w/Iran is Preordained? Chris Hedges

[katty]

more: http://www.alternet.org/story/42774/

Does Bush Think War with Iran Is Preordained?

By Chris Hedges, Truthdig. Posted October 10, 2006.


The Christian right sees an apocalyptic nuclear war with Iran as a vision set forth in the Bible. Bush himself may be a believer, too. Tools


The aircraft carrier Eisenhower, accompanied by the guided-missile cruiser USS Anzio, guided-missile destroyer USS Ramage, guided-missile destroyer USS Mason and the fast-attack submarine USS Newport News, is, as I write, making its way to the Straits of Hormuz off Iran. The ships will be in place to strike Iran by the end of the month. It may be a bluff. It may be a feint. It may be a simple show of American power. But I doubt it.

War with Iran -- a war that would unleash an apocalyptic scenario in the Middle East -- is probable by the end of the Bush administration. It could begin in as little as three weeks. This administration, claiming to be anointed by a Christian God to reshape the world, and especially the Middle East, defined three states at the start of its reign as "the Axis of Evil." They were Iraq, now occupied; North Korea, which, because it has nuclear weapons, is untouchable; and Iran. Those who do not take this apocalyptic rhetoric seriously have ignored the twisted pathology of men like Elliott Abrams, who helped orchestrate the disastrous and illegal contra war in Nicaragua, and who now handles the Middle East for the National Security Council. He knew nothing about Central America. He knows nothing about the Middle East. He sees the world through the childish, binary lens of good and evil, us and them, the forces of darkness and the forces of light. And it is this strange, twilight mentality that now grips most of the civilian planners who are barreling us towards a crisis of epic proportions.

[whistle]

1. It would seem so, he has nuclear weapons on board the naval strike

...fleet due to arrive of the coast of Iran on Saturday

[Rick Myers]

5. You can bet there are live rounds on the sub and cruisers!!!

Tomahawks and more!!!!

[Homer12]

2. I think this is the November surprise.

Time for teh THUGS to blow a few well placed bombs in the US, declare state of war and emergency, and do the final take over.

[Sherman A1]

3. Remain calm

There will be 2 carrier groups doing some exercises in what is probably a standard rotation. Yes, they have nuclear weapons on board, they always do, that's part of the thing they do. But 2 carriers does not a war make, a bit of showmanship perhaps, but it's only about 160 aircraft.

[cornermouse]

4. He doesn't.

He's not a believer.

I think he sees dollar signs when he looks at Iran and Iraq. If he knew what he was doing, he might have succeeded, but he doesn't.