Just how close are Bush and Cheney to bombing Iran?

[whistle]

...I just read this piece by Arnaud de Borchgrave published in June 2007 saying that neocon giant Norman Podhoretz has been pushing the case hard on behalf of the neocons. Of course Dick Cheney has been pushing this line also and Bush is being constantly reminded of his "pledge" to neutralize Iran before he leaves office. I'd like to find more current stuff on what these people are saying and doing.

<snip>
Neocon Drum Beat
By Arnaud de Borchgrave
UPI Editor at Large

WASHINGTON -- World peace is now at risk because of "new crazies who say, 'Let's go and bomb Iran.'" So spoke Mohammed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. He didn't mention names. But the latest "bombs away" clarion call came from no less a neocon giant than Norman Podhoretz, the original godfather of the movement that played a critical role in bringing down the Soviet empire.

"The Case for Bombing Iran," was the headline over Podhoretz's long piece in the June issue of Commentary, the magazine he edited for 35 years (until 1995) and where he serves as editor at large. "I hope and pray that President Bush will do it," Podhoretz wrote. His son-in-law Elliott Abrams is deputy national security adviser to President George W. Bush. His son John is editorial page editor of the New York Post.

<cut to end>
Even if Iran's Ahmadinejad did not yet have missiles with a long enough range to hit the United States, "he would certainly be able to unleash a wave of nuclear terror against us," said Podhoretz. And this time, citing Bernard Lewis, MAD, mutual assured destruction, that kept the superpowers' nuclear weapon sheathed throughout the Cold War, would not work. "We know already that Iran's leaders do not give a damn about killing their own people in great numbers ... they are giving them a quick free pass to heaven and all its delights."

Podhoretz also quoted Ayatollah Khomeini, who led the revolution and ruled from 1979 to 1989, as saying, "We do not worship Iran, we worship Allah. For patriotism is another word for paganism. I say this land (Iran) burn ... go up in smoke, provided Islam emerges triumphant in the rest of the world."

The neocon concludes by reminding Bush of his pledge not to leave office before making sure Iran does not become a nuclear weapons power. Saving Israel from nuclear destruction would then become the president's historical legacy -- writ large. "As an American and as a Jew," concludes Podhoretz, "I pray with all my heart that he will (bomb)."
<MORE>

http://wpherald.com/articles/5032/1/Commentary-Bombing-Iran/Neocon-drum-beat.html

[seemslikeadream]

1. Michael Ledeen

http://www.booktv.org/program.aspx?ProgramId=8605&SectionName=&PlayMedia=No

The Iranian Time Bomb: The Mullah Zealots' Quest for Destruction
Bookmark Program



Author: Michael Ledeen

Upcoming Schedule
Monday, September 17, at 5:30 AM
About the Program
Michael Ledeen argues that Iran is a threat to the United States and Israel and suggests ways to counter the threat without using military means. Commentary is provided by Cliff May and former CIA director James Woolsey.
About the Author
Michael Ledeen is the author of "The War Against the The Terror Masters" and "D'Annunzio." He is a Freedom Scholar with the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research.



http://www.cspan.org/search/basic.asp?ResultStart=1&ResultCount=10&BasicQueryText=ledeen&image1.x=23&image1.y=12


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEa3BSc233U

[leftchick]

2. Was Israeli raid a dry run for attack on Iran?

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2170188,00.html


Mystery surrounds last week's air foray into Syrian territory. The Observer's Foreign Affairs Editor attempts to unravel the truth behind Operation Orchard and allegations of nuclear subterfuge

[tekisui]

9. It was an opening shot.

[Warren Stupidity]

3. If they are going to do it they are running out of time.

So I think that they do intend to move to step two in the PNAC plan to clear the deck in the middle east, that they first need to refund their Iraq blunder (another $50B, doesn't that bring it to about 250B this year alone?), then they intend to bomb the crap out of Iran. There will be some justifying event.

[whistle]

5. Yes $225.0 to $250.0 billion since the surge began...lots of war profits

...and a total redistribution of the U.S. economic wealth into war

[CoffeeCat]

8. Do you speculate that this event will be...

...on US soil?

Just curious...because it feels as if something is in the air.

[whistle]

11. It worked for the neocons on 9/11 and I would think these crazies

...would have no hesitation to try it again.

Since they operate from plans and manuals, the answer I would suspect is in a document somewhere, probably right in front of our eyes. These neocons love to play that game of "It was there all the time, you just did no look or hear".

[CoffeeCat]

12. There's a lot of speculation about our schools...

...being attacked.

I don't like or listen to Glenn Beck. However, he has mentioned several facts that lead
to the conclusion that there is an Al Qaida plan in place to blow up many schools simultaneously
in the United States, much like they did in Breslan.

Beck mentioned:

--17 school busses are missing in Houston, Texas.
--Two Saudi men were arrested after boarding a school bus in Fla.
--On computers in Iraq, architectural plans and emergency-response information
from several US elementary schools were found on computers after an Al Qaida raid.
--Beck has a video on his Web site of Al Qaidi practicing such an event. You can
hear Al Qaida members speaking in English through the "exercises". You can also
hear a child crying in the background, as if this was part of the simulation.
--According to KHOU News in Houston, "Reportedly, there have been hundreds of thefts
of school bus radios in the United States".
--There are dozens of incidents in the country, where people have called police to
report that strangers are taking pictures and "surveying" our schools.
--Bin Laden said (and I have not seen this or verified this with any video) what we
did in Breslen, we will do 100 times over in America.
----An expert on Breslen, who was on Beck's show, said that the FBI is taking this
threat very seriously, and they are in the process of investigating. However, they
have no time/place facts. His assertion is that they are keeping this quiet to avoid
widespread panic. He said (direct quote), the FBI knows that this is a case of 'when'
it will happen, not 'if'".

It's easy to dismiss Beck. He's a major "chicken little". However, these points I
just outlined are verifiable facts.

I just read about this over the weekend. I do believe that someone needs to do some
due diligence on this issue. Either Beck needs to be arrested for "yelling fire in
a crowded theater" or we need to have armed guards at all of our schools.

This begs further analysis--because if these dots are indeed true, then they are similar
to the dots that existed pre-9/11--such as the flight-school information, government knowledge/inaction
about a possible threat, computer intelligence about a plot discovered, etc.

[Warren Stupidity]

15. That's a good question, but no.

Wouldn't it be easier to concoct some crap in Iraq?

[lovuian]

4. WWIII is coming

no doubt about it Can't you see it coming

there testing the weapons
the nukes being moved
the propaganda machine starting up
Bush needs some ratings
Congress has given him the Ok secretly
Time is running out
Three Aircraft carriers in the Persian gulf

everything has been put in place so the Democratic President can be incharge of WWIII
:nuke:

It reminds me of the disaster of Atlantis

[whistle]

7. Destruction of Atlantis? My God, were you there?

:yoiks:

[CoffeeCat]

6. How enraged can I get?

Man, how sick and debased do you have to be to continually "pray" and "hope" that
hundreds of thousands of innocent Iranian men, women and children will be murdered
or will suffer untold psychological and physical trauma from which they will never
recover?

This man is "praying" for that scenario.

Is there an end to their sickness, their evil and their myopic, self-aggrandizing,
infantile approach to life? These people have no humanity. They are all deranged.

Thank God that IAEA head, ElBaradei had the guts to speak the truth and call them
"new crazies".

I am so sick and tired of these freaks running the show. They all belong in a cellar,
where they can all fantasize about killing and maiming innocent people. How on Earth
did this freak show attain so much power. They are the lowest form of human scum ever
to walk the Earth.

They don't even deserve sunlight on their faces. I have my own hopes and prayers that
involve a new, promising leader emerging---someone who will put these classless, rabid
thugs where they belong--and start leading our country toward peace, dignity, honesty,
compassion, decency and a return to rational, intelligent problem solving.

[whistle]

10. I know, this is total evil

[rucky]

16. look what happens to decent people who want the job.

our culture values leadership qualities that psychopaths and facists have in spades. they mistake pig headedness for decisiveness, aggression for courage. They prefer affibility over intellect, religiousity over responsibility.

they want top-down leadership, just like in their workplace. every corporation a mini-cult. every CEO an overpaid Rajneeshi, flaunting his wealth and prowess over his gawking worshippers. Yeah, governments should run more like a business.

we fucked ourselves by our own fucked values. now if you don't mind, i'm off to watch the Emmys.

[slipslidingaway]

13. The report 'A Clean Break' from 1996, Syria has been in the

news lately so something to keep in mind IMO.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Clean_Break:_A_New_Strategy_for_Securing_the_Realm

http://www.israeleconomy.org/strat1.htm

Securing the Northern Border

"Syria challenges Israel on Lebanese soil. An effective approach, and one with which American can sympathize, would be if Israel seized the strategic initiative along its northern borders by engaging Hizballah, Syria, and Iran, as the principal agents of aggression in Lebanon."

"...Israel can shape its strategic environment, in cooperation with Turkey and Jordan, by weakening, containing, and even rolling back Syria. This effort can focus on removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq — an important Israeli strategic objective in its own right — as a means of foiling Syria's regional ambitions."


Participants in the Study Group on "A New Israeli Strategy Toward 2000:"

Richard Perle, American Enterprise Institute, Study Group Leader

James Colbert, Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs
Charles Fairbanks, Jr., Johns Hopkins University/SAIS
Douglas Feith, Feith and Zell Associates
Robert Loewenberg, President, Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies
Jonathan Torop, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
David Wurmser, Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies
Meyrav Wurmser, Johns Hopkins University

[slipslidingaway]

14. Kick n/t