Secret 2001 Pentagon Plan to Attack Lebanon (Wes Clark)

[IChing]

Secret 2001 Pentagon Plan to Attack Lebanon
Wesley Clark, the retired four-star general who is one of 10 candidates for the Democratic nomination for president, has written a new book that is just arriving on bookstore shelves. Called Winning Modern Wars, it’s mostly about the Iraq war and terrorism—and it is laced with powerful new information that he held back from the public when he was a CNN military commentator during the Bush administration’s preparations for the war.

For example, he says he learned from military sources at the Pentagon in November 2001, just two months after the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, that serious planning for the war on Iraq had already begun and that, in addition to Iraq, the administration had drawn up a list of six other nations to be targeted over a period of five years.

Here’s what he writes on page 130:

"As I went back through the Pentagon in November 2001, one of the senior military staff officers had time for a chat. Yes, we were still on track for going against Iraq, he said. But there was more. This was being discussed as part of a five-year campaign plan, he said, and there were a total of seven countries, beginning with Iraq, then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia, and Sudan." Clark adds, "I left the Pentagon that afternoon deeply concerned."
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http://signs-of-the-times.org/signs/editorials/signs20060724_TheHistoryOfWarIsTheHistoryOfLies.php
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Interesting tidbit from: The History Of War Is The History Of Lies

http://signs-of-the-times.org/signs/editorials/signs20060724_TheHistoryOfWarIsTheHistoryOfLies.php

Also for your consideration:

Neoconservatism, the Israeli Lobby,
and other Power Relations
http://www.cassiopaea.org/cass/perez-alonso.htm

[ananda]

1. but not concerned enough..

.. to speak out or do anything about it.

I think I'll pull for Moyers, with Ivins. :-))

[leveymg]

2. Goes right along with the more recent joint Israel-US attack plan

"impossible to know the precise origins of the current crisis in Lebanon"?
Edited on Mon Jul-24-06 09:30 PM by leveymg
The invasion of Lebanon WAS planned over a year ago by Ariel Sharon and the Bush Administration. See, http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1709626&mesg_id=1709626

Israel Planned Lebanon Strike w/Bush-Cheney for More than a Year
Edited on Sun Jul-23-06 12:12 PM by leveymg

Some interesting reports that Israel has been planning and talking with the Bush Administration for more than a year about its military incursion into Lebanon. According to an article in The San Francisco Chronicle, nothing about the seemingly sudden spread of hostilities in the Middle East comes as a surprise to the White House.

Of course, this coincides with the run up to American elections which predictably threaten a disaster for the GOP rivaling its military debacle in Iraq. Only a wider regional crisis, one which entails the possibility of a real war with massive American casualties, can hope to deflect that outcome.

****
This was reported in The San Francisco Chronicle Saturday:

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/07/21 ...

More than a year ago, a senior Israeli army officer began giving PowerPoint presentations, on an off-the-record basis, to U.S. and other diplomats, journalists and think tanks, setting out the plan for the current operation in revealing detail. Under the ground rules of the briefings, the officer could not be identified.

In his talks, the officer described a three-week campaign: The first week concentrated on destroying Hezbollah's heavier long-range (rockets), bombing its command-and-control centers, and disrupting transportation and communication arteries. In the second week, the focus shifted to attacks on individual sites of rocket launchers or weapons stores. In the third week, ground forces in large numbers would be introduced, but only in order to knock out targets discovered during reconnaissance missions as the campaign unfolded. There was no plan, according to this scenario, to reoccupy southern Lebanon on a long-term basis.

****

[IChing]

5. This was also reported in that first article also worth taking a look at

is the second article to see who the major players have been

Neoconservatism, the Israeli Lobby,
and other Power Relations


http://www.cassiopaea.org/cass/perez-alonso.htm

[leveymg]

6. Glad to see this mentioned in the analysis: oil

I believe the multiternational energy companies -- which are the wealthiest non-governmental entities in the world -- have their own agenda, and are manipulating the other players.

They ultimately view the nations involved, including the U.S. and Israel, as expendible markets, consumers or service providers that are to exploited as much as possible, and then downsized as part of a long-range plan for global economic transformation that will shift capital tied up in the highly-regulated West to the higher-growth emerging Asian economies.

BushCo ultimately serves them, and what's happening is part of an agenda to weaken the U.S. through acquisition of debt and depletion of its military and political power. It also seeks to create chaos and randomization in global energy markets, as a way of keeping energy prices and profits up. Dubya is a useful tool toward those goals.

[Norquist Nemesis]

3. Not Libya! They're our 'ally'!!

Shortly after the 2003 adventure in Iraq started, I told my husband they had plans for this and we likely working on Cuba if they could swing it. He quickly chastised me saying the military has plans for just about every country...they'ld be stupid not to. I was then quickly waved off and summarily dismissed when I said, "Yes. It's necessary to be prepared. But making the decision to implement a PRE-EMPTIVE ATTACK PLAN is different, is it not?"

As to Somalia and Sudan, I certainly hope they're watching those regions very, very, very, very closely. From what I've read, they're ripe for harvesting by people like bin Laden.

[acmavm]

4. I've said it before, I'll say it again. They're starting as much shit

and doing as much bombing and killing as they can now. They're afraid that after November they may have their ability to start wars and finance and support the killing of civilians other Middle Eastern countries shut down.

[AX10]

8. Very True.

[wiggs]

7. Yet another reason why these midterms are critically important

If the upcoming midterms don't punish the GOP and this administration for six years of disaster, bad decisions, immorality, and criminality....just imagine what the next two years will bring....military engagement with at least Syria, Iran, and Lebanon.

[madfloridian]

9. If Clark knew this in 2001, why didn't he make it public?

I remember hearing about it sometime in 2003, but the war started in March.

"As I went back through the Pentagon in November 2001, one of the senior military staff officers had time for a chat. Yes, we were still on track for going against Iraq, he said. But there was more. This was being discussed as part of a five-year campaign plan, he said, and there were a total of seven countries, beginning with Iraq, then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia, and Sudan." Clark adds, "I left the Pentagon that afternoon deeply concerned."