Israel pressures Bush to Bomb Iran...

[Imagevision]

Bush is coming under enormous pressure from Israel - and from Israel's neoconservative friends inside and outside the US administration - to harden still further his stance toward Iran.

They want the American president to commit himself to bombing Iran if it does not give up its program of uranium enrichment - and to issue a clear ultimatum to Tehran that he is prepared to do so.

They argue that mere rhetoric - such as Bush's recent diatribe, in which he compared Iran to al-Qaeda - is not enough, and might even be counter-productive, as it might encourage the Iranians to think that America's bark is worse than its bite.

Hard-liners in Israel and the United States believe that only military action, or the credible threat of it, will now prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, with all that this would mean in terms of Israel's security and the balance of power in the strategically vital Middle East.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=5&article_id=75489

Is this the October surprise?

[xultar]

1. ...

:popcorn:

[Deja Q]

2. You mean Israel, despite its armament, is too wimpy to do it themselves?

Ouch.


:popcorn:

[CarlVK]

3. Just like they did with Iraq, I suspect.

I have seen an uncomfortable incidence of support for this stupid war by many otherwise liberal Jewish American Democrats (Joe Lieberman, anyone?)

Terri Gross also ripped into some anti-Iraq war protestor on her program "Fresh Air", back when we were all being called "naysayers" and "defeatists".

[Imagevision]

4. Bush: 11/06/06 Speech - "The US. has attacked Iran last night"...

[IndianaGreen]

5. There are many Israelis and American Jews that think that Bush

would be nuts to attack Iran. Let's not allow the same people that lied us into the Iraq war to succeed again.

[JohnyCanuck]

6. The same people who lied you into Iraq are at it again.

The sad thing, is the corporate media whores and the freepers will probably believe them this time too, even after they've been made fools of once already.

In a replay of Iraq, a battle is brewing over intelligence on Iran
By Warren P. Strobel and John Walcott

WASHINGTON - In an echo of the intelligence wars that preceded the U.S. invasion of Iraq, a high-stakes struggle is brewing within the Bush administration and in Congress over Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program and involvement in terrorism.

U.S. intelligence and counterterrorism officials say Bush political appointees and hard-liners on Capitol Hill have tried recently to portray Iran's nuclear program as more advanced than it is and to exaggerate Tehran's role in Hezbollah's attack on Israel in mid-July.

The struggle's outcome could have profound implications for U.S. policy.

SNIP

Current and former officials said the Pentagon's Iranian directorate has been headed by Abram Shulsky. Shulsky also was the head of the now-defunct Office of Special Plans, whose role in allegedly manipulating Iraq intelligence is under investigation by the Pentagon's inspector general.

Some officials say they fear the office, whose existence was first reported by the Los Angeles Times, is being used to funnel intelligence from Ghorbanifar, the arms dealer, and an Iranian exile group known as the Mujahedeen Khalq.

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/columnists/warren_p_strobel/15529884.htm