The Nation: Who Wants to Bomb Iran? Dems, not the GOP, says Seymour Hersh

[marmar]

BLOG | Posted 10/05/2007 @ 12:15pm
Who Wants to Bomb Iran? Dems, not the GOP, says Seymour Hersh
Jon Wiener


When George Bush and Dick Cheney talk about their plans to bomb Iran, they are told "You can't do it, because every Republican is going to be defeated"--that's what a Republican former intelligence official told legendary investigative reporter Seymour Hersh. "But," the former official went on, "Cheney doesn't give a rat's ass about the Republican worries, and neither does the President."

I recently spoke with Hersh, whose new piece, "Target Iran," is featured in The New Yorker this week.

When I asked Hersh who wants to bomb Iran, he said "Ironically there is a lot of pressure coming from Democrats. Hillary Clinton, Obama, and Edwards have all said we cannot have a nuclear-armed Iran. Clearly the pressure from Democrats is a reflection of – we might as well say it – Israeli and Jewish input." He added the obvious: "a lot of money comes to the Democratic campaigns" from Jewish contributors.

But while Democrats argue that we must "do something" about an Iranian nuclear threat, Hersh says the White House has concluded their own effort to convince Americans that Iran poses an imminent threat has "failed." Apparently the public that bought the story of WMD in Iraq is now singing the classic Who song, "Won't be Fooled Again."

Moreover, Hersh reports, "the general consensus of the American intelligence community is that Iran is at least five years away from obtaining a bomb" – so the public is right to be skeptical.

As a result, according to Hersh, the focus of the plans to bomb Iran has shifted from an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities to an emphasis on the famed "surgical strikes" on Revolutionary Guard Corps facilities in Tehran and elsewhere. The White House hopes it can win public support for this kind of campaign by arguing that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps is responsible for the deaths of Americans in Iraq. .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion?bid=15&pid=240318

[thereismore]

1. Pressure from dems against nuclaer Iran = dems want to bomb? WTF? nt

[Dhalgren]

4. Don't forget - Clinton, Obama, and Edwards say,

"Nothing is off the table!" Well, except impeachment...

[bos1]

7. awesome post. nt

[Dhalgren]

10. Like, totally!

:evilgrin:

[cyberpj]

2. K/R. Read it and weep. Needs front page exposure. nt

[bos1]

9. K&R nt

[Dhalgren]

3. That's "Won't GET Fooled Again"...just sayin'...

So when Dick and the Fuhrer bomb Iran, who will we vote for, then? Wait a minute, I know: "Shut up and support the Democrats! It isn't your place to second guess your betters! Besides, if our Democratic "leadership" and "front runners" weren't the ones best able to make those decisions, the Corporations wouldn't have bought them."

[Name removed]

5. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[bos1]

6. Hersh is usually right on target

and we have to listen to him

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Joanne98]

26. Can you say AIPAC!

[no_hypocrisy]

11. When can I expect to wake up from this Kafka-esque nightmare?

[HereSince1628]

12. Never.

I really think never.

:cry:

[madrchsod]

13. war in iran?

the bottom line is it would cost the people behind the curtain to much money

[cyberpj]

19. hard to belive that when all of them have made millions and billions on Iraq.

Seems Iran would just last that much longer and require many more defense contracts and Blackwater type mercenaries.

[populistdriven]

14. I wonder how many think the existential threat is Hersh?

money money money money money
money money money money money
money money money money money

[lander]

21. Ooh! Me! n/t

[partylessinOhio]

15. We cannot vote for these three "bought and paid for" candidates

or we will have an expanded and endless war.

We need a PEACE president. You don't have to go with the flow, you can swim upstream and you can vote for someone else. Remember that those millions of contributions will not trickle down to your pocket - they are only used to brainwash the flock.

[AntiFascist]

16. Once again I have to ask, who still thinks the Dems are the Party of Peace?

whether you call them neocons or neoliberals, there is a powerful faction within the Democratic Party who would like to see the PNAC agenda carried out.

[SteveM]

17. Standard, locked-in post-modern liberals. Been around since mid-70s.

[BB1]

24. Dems and Repubs are all playing on the same team.

Take a step back from the action you're in, and see the chaos on both sides. Chaos is meant to disguise, but what is this political bi-partisan chaos disguising?

The answer is quite simple. If there are so little contenders for (Western)World domination, they'll team up. It's what they do. There's a huge pie, too big for any party to eat on it's own. "So let's keep the public in ignorance and eat all of it. We'll say we're discussing our differences and all, but what we actually do is eat cake behind closed curtains."

Think they played 'Command and Conquer' at any time? Or were they just bullied in high school?

[Flabbergasted]

18. Eye opening piece K&R

[Jim Sagle]

20. Antisemitic rubbish from a self-hating jagoff.

[Indenturedebtor]

22. No doubt

I mean seriously, did the tide suddenly change? Not that these Dems, or many Dems for that matter have been taking a strong stance against attacking Iran, but hasn't it been the pukes that have been saber rattling all along... songs like "Bomb Iran" ring any bells?

To claim that the Israel Lobby has nothing or even little to do with support for a war against Iran would be rediculous. Almost as rediculous as this particular conspiracy. But not quite.

[AdHocSolver]

23. Hersh is reading his own ignorance and bias into what the Democrats allegedly said.

In the article, Wiener says:

(snip)....
When I asked Hersh who wants to bomb Iran, he said "Ironically there is a lot of pressure coming from Democrats. Hillary Clinton, Obama, and Edwards have all said we cannot have a nuclear-armed Iran."
....

Hersh concludes for us that the claim that "we cannot have a nuclear-armed Iran" implies that the only solution posed by the candidates is to bomb Iran. The candidates could very well believe in, and propose, negotiating with the Iranians (my impression). Hersh is making a conclusion from his statement that could be, and probably is, totally false (namely, that the candidates are proposing unconditionally to bomb Iran.)

(snip)....
Clearly the pressure from Democrats is a reflection of – we might as well say it – Israeli and Jewish input." He added the obvious: "a lot of money comes to the Democratic campaigns" from Jewish contributors.
....

First, Hersh sets up a red herring claim, and then "proves it" by insinuating that Democrats want to bomb Iran because Israel is suspicious of Iran, and Jews give money to Democrats.

This is "guilt by association" and logically is a false argument (and antisemitic, as well).

Iranian saber-rattling is not in the U.S. best interest or that of Israel. So any candidate, of whatever party, should be cautious about Iran's actions to demonstrate a serious attitude about U.S. foreign policy.

Aside from posturing by politicians, any intelligent Israeli can look at the way Bush/Cheney botched Iraq, and would conclude that, if any action concerning Iran needs to be taken, that they do it themselves.

It is extremely aggravating how recent history has unfolded and supposedly politically astute Americans still come up with this idiotic premise that Israel controls American foreign policy. These folks give a complete free pass to the oil companies, Saudi Arabia, Halliburton, KBR, Blackwater, and the military-industrial complex. Their mantra is that the U.S. didn't invade Iraq for its oil, but only because Israel was afraid of Saddam.

With this kind of reasoning, it is no wonder that Bush/Cheney get away with so much.

[formercia]

25. By the time the aircraft arrive

there will be nothing but empty buildings, just like in Yugoslavia.


It's all bullshit for posturing.