Bush 'Plans Iran Air Strike by August'

Bush 'Plans Iran Air Strike by August'

By Muhammad Cohen

http://www.informationclearinghouse....ticle19991.htm


28/05/08 "Asia Times" -- - NEW YORK - The George W Bush administration
plans to launch an air strike against Iran within the next two months,
an informed source tells Asia Times Online, echoing other reports that
have surfaced in the media in the United States recently.

Two key US senators briefed on the attack planned to go public with
their opposition to the move, according to the source, but their
projected New York Times op-ed piece has yet to appear.

The source, a retired US career diplomat and former assistant
secretary of state still active in the foreign affairs community,
speaking anonymously, said last week that that the US plans an air
strike against the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The air
strike would target the headquarters of the IRGC's elite Quds force.
With an estimated strength of up to 90,000 fighters, the Quds' stated
mission is to spread Iran's revolution of 1979 throughout the region.

Targets could include IRGC garrisons in southern and southwestern
Iran, near the border with Iraq. US officials have repeatedly claimed
Iran is aiding Iraqi insurgents. In January 2007, US forces raided the
Iranian consulate general in Erbil, Iraq, arresting five staff
members, including two Iranian diplomats it held until November. Last
September, the US Senate approved a resolution by a vote of 76-22
urging President George W Bush to declare the IRGC a terrorist
organization. Following this non-binding "sense of the senate"
resolution, the White House declared sanctions against the Quds Force
as a terrorist group in October. The Bush administration has also
accused Iran of pursuing a nuclear weapons program, though most
intelligence analysts say the program has been abandoned.

An attack on Iraq would fit the Bush administration's declared policy
on Iraq. Administration officials questioned directly about military
action against Iran routinely assert that "all options remain on the
table".

Rockin' and a-reelin'
Senators and the Bush administration denied the resolution and
terrorist declaration were preludes to an attack on Iran. However,
attacking Iran rarely seems far from some American leaders' minds.
Arizona senator and presumptive Republican presidential nominee John
McCain recast the classic Beach Boys tune Barbara Ann as "Bomb Iran".
Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton promised "total obliteration" for
Iran if it attacked Israel.

The US and Iran have a long and troubled history, even without the
proposed air strike. US and British intelligence were behind attempts
to unseat prime minister Mohammed Mossadeq, who nationalized Britain's
Anglo-Iranian Petroleum Company, and returned Shah Mohammad Reza
Pahlavi to power in 1953. President Jimmy Carter's pressure on the
Shah to improve his dismal human-rights record and loosen political
control helped the 1979 Islamic revolution unseat the Shah.

But the new government under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini condemned the
US as "the Great Satan" for its decades of support for the Shah and
its reluctant admission into the US of the fallen monarch for cancer
treatment. Students occupied the US Embassy in Teheran, holding 52
diplomats hostage for 444 days. Eight American commandos died in a
failed rescue mission in 1980. The US broke diplomatic relations with
Iran during the hostage holding and has yet to restore them. Iranian
President Mahmud Ahmadinejad's rhetoric often sounds lifted from the
Khomeini era.

The source said the White House views the proposed air strike as a
limited action to punish Iran for its involvement in Iraq. The source,
an ambassador during the administration of president H W Bush, did not
provide details on the types of weapons to be used in the attack, nor
on the precise stage of planning at this time. It is not known whether
the White House has already consulted with allies about the air
strike, or if it plans to do so.

Sense in the senate
Details provided by the administration raised alarm bells on Capitol
Hill, the source said. After receiving secret briefings on the planned
air strike, Senator Diane Feinstein, Democrat of California, and
Senator Richard Lugar, Republican of Indiana, said they would write a
New York Times op-ed piece "within days", the source said last week,
to express their opposition. Feinstein is a member of the Senate
Intelligence Committee and Lugar is the ranking Republican on the
Foreign Relations Committee.

Senate offices were closed for the US Memorial Day holiday, so
Feinstein and Lugar were not available for comment.

Given their obligations to uphold the secrecy of classified
information, it is unlikely the senators would reveal the Bush
administration's plan or their knowledge of it. However, going public
on the issue, even without specifics, would likely create a public
groundswell of criticism that could induce the Bush administration
reconsider its plan.

The proposed air strike on Iran would have huge implications for
geopolitics and for the ongoing US presidential campaign. The biggest
question, of course, is how would Iran respond?

Iran's options
Iran could flex its muscles in any number of ways. It could step up
support for insurgents in Iraq and for its allies throughout the
Middle East. Iran aids both Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Israel's
Occupied Territories. It is also widely suspected of assisting Taliban
rebels in Afghanistan.

Iran could also choose direct confrontation with the US in Iraq and/or
Afghanistan, with which Iran shares a long, porous border. Iran has a
fighting force of more than 500,000. Iran is also believed to have
missiles capable of reaching US allies in the Gulf region.

Iran could also declare a complete or selective oil embargo on US
allies. Iran is the second-largest oil exporter in the Organization of
Petroleum Exporting Countries and fourth-largest overall. About 70% of
its oil exports go to Asia. The US has barred oil imports from Iran
since 1995 and restricts US companies from investing there.

China is Iran's biggest customer for oil, and Iran buys weapons from
China. Trade between the two countries hit US$20 billion last year and
continues to expand. China's reaction to an attack on Iran is also a
troubling unknown for the US.

Three for the money
The Islamic world could also react strongly against a US attack
against a third predominantly Muslim nation. Pakistan, which also
shares a border with Iran, could face additional pressure from Islamic
parties to end its cooperation with the US to fight al-Qaeda and hunt
for Osama bin Laden. Turkey, another key ally, could be pushed further
off its secular base. American companies, diplomatic installations and
other US interests could face retaliation from governments or mobs in
Muslim-majority states from Indonesia to Morocco.

A US air strike on Iran would have seismic impact on the presidential
race at home, but it's difficult to determine where the pieces would
fall.

At first glance, a military attack against Iran would seem to favor
McCain. The Arizona senator says the US is locked in battle across the
globe with radical Islamic extremists, and he believes Iran is one of
biggest instigators and supporters of the extremist tide. A strike on
Iran could rally American voters to back the war effort and vote for
McCain.

On the other hand, an air strike on Iran could heighten public
disenchantment with Bush administration policy in the Middle East,
leading to support for the Democratic candidate, whoever it is.

But an air strike will provoke reactions far beyond US voting booths.
That would explain why two veteran senators, one Republican and one
Democrat, were reportedly so horrified at the prospect.

Former broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen told America's story to
the world as a US diplomat and is author of Hong Kong On Air
(www.hongkongonair.com), a novel set during the 1997 handover about
television news, love, betrayal, high finance and cheap lingerie.

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Threat of NeoCon War on Iran for Israel Zionist Agenda (click on the
picture at the following URL):

http://neoconzionistthreat.blogspot....or-israel.html


Here is a tiny URL for the above one:

http://tinyurl.com/3w2ok7

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://NEOCONZIONISTTHREAT.BLOGSPOT.COM


http://NOMOREWARFORISRAEL.BLOGSPOT.COM

On Tue, 27 May 2008 17:11:23 -0700 (PDT), NOMOREWARFORISRAEL
wrote:

28/05/08 "Asia Times" -- - NEW YORK - The George W Bush administration
plans to launch an air strike against Iran within the next two months,
an informed source tells Asia Times Online, echoing other reports that
have surfaced in the media in the United States recently.


Bush 'plans Iran air strike by August' Won't work. Bush had
stated that he will attend the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony (Aug
8). He hasn't got the smarts to juggle that kind of scheduling
conflict by doing a new war at the same time. But then again he may
do so a few days later and steal the headlines from the Olympics. On
the balance? Nah.

In article ,
PaPaPeng wrote:

On Tue, 27 May 2008 17:11:23 -0700 (PDT), NOMOREWARFORISRAEL
wrote:

28/05/08 "Asia Times" -- - NEW YORK - The George W Bush administration
plans to launch an air strike against Iran within the next two months,
an informed source tells Asia Times Online, echoing other reports that
have surfaced in the media in the United States recently.


Bush 'plans Iran air strike by August' Won't work. Bush had
stated that he will attend the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony (Aug
8). He hasn't got the smarts to juggle that kind of scheduling
conflict by doing a new war at the same time. But then again he may
do so a few days later and steal the headlines from the Olympics. On
the balance? Nah.

FOAD, troll.

Steve Hix wrote:
In article ,
PaPaPeng wrote:

On Tue, 27 May 2008 17:11:23 -0700 (PDT), NOMOREWARFORISRAEL
wrote:

28/05/08 "Asia Times" -- - NEW YORK - The George W Bush administration
plans to launch an air strike against Iran within the next two months,
an informed source tells Asia Times Online, echoing other reports that
have surfaced in the media in the United States recently.

Bush 'plans Iran air strike by August' Won't work. Bush had
stated that he will attend the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony (Aug
8). He hasn't got the smarts to juggle that kind of scheduling
conflict by doing a new war at the same time. But then again he may
do so a few days later and steal the headlines from the Olympics. On
the balance? Nah.

FOAD, troll.

Truth **** you off? Bush never could meet any kind of a Military
deadline. Hell, he couldn't even keep up reserve flight status in a unit
that was slated never to see combat even. No more damned civilians or
draft dodgers in the first chair! Or goofy peanut farmers!

In article ,
Don Ocean wrote:

Steve Hix wrote:
In article ,
PaPaPeng wrote:

On Tue, 27 May 2008 17:11:23 -0700 (PDT), NOMOREWARFORISRAEL
wrote:

28/05/08 "Asia Times" -- - NEW YORK - The George W Bush administration
plans to launch an air strike against Iran within the next two months,
an informed source tells Asia Times Online, echoing other reports that
have surfaced in the media in the United States recently.

Bush 'plans Iran air strike by August' Won't work. Bush had
stated that he will attend the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony (Aug
8). He hasn't got the smarts to juggle that kind of scheduling
conflict by doing a new war at the same time. But then again he may
do so a few days later and steal the headlines from the Olympics. On
the balance? Nah.

FOAD, troll.

Truth **** you off?

Not at all.

That post wasn't "truth", to any reasonable value, though.

Bush never could meet any kind of a Military
deadline. Hell, he couldn't even keep up reserve flight status in a unit
that was slated never to see combat even.

Ignoring the fact that said unit was transitioning to a different
aircraft and mission, and that he had insufficient time remaining in his
commitment to be trained for the new mission. Not to mention that he
gained more than enough points during his service to more than fulfill
his required commitment.

No more damned civilians or
draft dodgers in the first chair! Or goofy peanut farmers!

It's odd, really, that so many fulminate at near infinite length about
how Bush is too stupid to walk and chew gum simultaneously, yet at the
same time go on as if he must totally control in the tiniest detail all
of the nefarious plots that they believe him to be juggling.

And they never can see the inconsistency.

PaPaPeng wrote:
On Tue, 27 May 2008 17:11:23 -0700 (PDT), NOMOREWARFORISRAEL
wrote:

28/05/08 "Asia Times" -- - NEW YORK - The George W Bush administration
plans to launch an air strike against Iran within the next two months,
an informed source tells Asia Times Online, echoing other reports that
have surfaced in the media in the United States recently.


Bush 'plans Iran air strike by August' Won't work. Bush had
stated that he will attend the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony (Aug
8). He hasn't got the smarts to juggle that kind of scheduling
conflict by doing a new war at the same time. But then again he may
do so a few days later and steal the headlines from the Olympics. On
the balance? Nah.

Besides that.. Do you think China will advance the hard cash needed for
such a war? Obviously the little ******* has bankrupted America with his
idiot adventures in the ME.

"PaPaPeng" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 27 May 2008 17:11:23 -0700 (PDT), NOMOREWARFORISRAEL
wrote:

28/05/08 "Asia Times" -- - NEW YORK - The George W Bush administration
plans to launch an air strike against Iran within the next two months,
an informed source tells Asia Times Online, echoing other reports that
have surfaced in the media in the United States recently.


Bush 'plans Iran air strike by August' Won't work. Bush had
stated that he will attend the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony (Aug
8).

Interesting.

Half the European leaders have already pulled out of that particular chance
for a free dinner.

It's possible he needs an excuse to get out of it and he thinks (yes, I
know...) that bombing somewhere is preferable to appearing on a platform
with the Chinese tyrants...

--
William Black


I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Barbeques on fire by the chalets past the castle headland
I watched the gift shops glitter in the darkness off the Newborough gate
All these moments will be lost in time, like icecream on the beach
Time for tea.

On Wed, 28 May 2008 09:51:23 +0100, "William Black"
wrote:



Bush 'plans Iran air strike by August' Won't work. Bush had
stated that he will attend the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony (Aug
8).

Interesting.

Half the European leaders have already pulled out of that particular chance
for a free dinner.

That a stretch seeing that Merkel, Brown and Sarkozy had never said
they were going in the first place. You can't withdraw from an event
that you were not going to. Its too late for them to change their
minds now. The same thing with Steven Spielberg withdrawing his
services. He never had a contract to do anything for the Beijing
Olympics. When that was pointed out to him we didn't hear a peep from
him since. Mia Farrow? Who's she?

It's possible he needs an excuse to get out of it and he thinks (yes, I
know...) that bombing somewhere is preferable to appearing on a platform
with the Chinese tyrants...

That will indeed be an interesting development. Let's see if Bush can
swing it.

--
William Black

In article ,
wrote:

On Wed, 28 May 2008 09:51:23 +0100, "William Black"
wrote:



Bush 'plans Iran air strike by August' Won't work. Bush had
stated that he will attend the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony (Aug
8).

Interesting.

Half the European leaders have already pulled out of that particular chance
for a free dinner.

That a stretch seeing that Merkel, Brown and Sarkozy had never said
they were going in the first place. You can't withdraw from an event
that you were not going to. Its too late for them to change their
minds now. The same thing with Steven Spielberg withdrawing his
services. He never had a contract to do anything for the Beijing
Olympics.

You really believe he didn't know his contractual situation regarding
the Olympics? Rather strange wouldn't you say for someone involved
in a business neck deep in contracts.


When that was pointed out to him we didn't hear a peep from
him since.

Why should we hear a peep from him? He simply walked away from
the situation and got on with his life. He just released a movie
or didn't you hear?

Joe

Mia Farrow? Who's she?

It's possible he needs an excuse to get out of it and he thinks (yes, I
know...) that bombing somewhere is preferable to appearing on a platform
with the Chinese tyrants...

That will indeed be an interesting development. Let's see if Bush can
swing it.

--
William Black

On Thu, 29 May 2008 08:58:38 -0700, (JJS)
wrote:

In article ,
wrote:

On Wed, 28 May 2008 09:51:23 +0100, "William Black"
wrote:



Bush 'plans Iran air strike by August' Won't work. Bush had
stated that he will attend the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony (Aug
8).

Interesting.

Half the European leaders have already pulled out of that particular chance
for a free dinner.

That a stretch seeing that Merkel, Brown and Sarkozy had never said
they were going in the first place. You can't withdraw from an event
that you were not going to. Its too late for them to change their
minds now. The same thing with Steven Spielberg withdrawing his
services. He never had a contract to do anything for the Beijing
Olympics.

You really believe he didn't know his contractual situation regarding
the Olympics? Rather strange wouldn't you say for someone involved
in a business neck deep in contracts.

Exactly.


Chinese envoy says he would have not disclosed meeting with Spielberg
without resignation claim
February 28, 2008
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/9...3/6362228.html

Visiting Chinese government's special representative for Darfur, Liu
Guijin, Wednesday said had the so-called resignation event not taken
place he would have not revealed his meeting last September with
Hollywood director Steven Spielberg.

"The so-called resignation announced by Mr. Spielberg is really a big
surprise to me," Liu told a news conference held at the Chinese
embassy in Khartoum at the end of a four-day visit in Sudan.

Liu said he had told reporters several days ago in London that he met
with Spielberg in New York last September. At that time, "Mr.
Spielberg is no longer an artistic adviser to the Beijing Olympics
since he had not signed a contract before the deadline. That is what I
learnt from the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX
Olympiad," he explained.

"But I told Mr. Spielberg that though you are no longer an artistic
advisor for the Beijing Olympics, I am still ready to exchange views
over issues in which you are interested," said the envoy, adding that
he spent over one hour on the meeting and tell Spielberg what the
Chinese side had done for the settlement of the Darfur issue.

After listening to Liu's introduction, Spielberg expressed his
gratitude, saying that he would do what he thought he should do for
the success of the Beijing Olympics whether he was or not an artistic
advisor, according to the envoy.

Liu said he personally have no ill feeling towards Spielberg.
"Instead, personally I respect him very much. I can understand the
pressure he is facing," said Liu.

Once again, Liu rejected attempts to link the Beijing Olympics to what
has happened in Sudan's Darfur, warning that to politicize the Olympic
Games will be very harmful in the long run as there would be abundant
attempts in the future to link the Olympic Games to politics.

"The friendly and cooperative relations between China and Sudanhad
already come into being before February of 2003 when infighting flared
up in Darfur," he said. "China is having normal relations with Sudan,
just like China's relations with other African nations. So we firmly
oppose any attempt to politicize Chinese-Sudanese relations."

Liu arrived in the Sudanese capital early Sunday after visiting
Britain. It is his fourth visit to this Africa's largest nation since
his appointment last May.

On Tuesday, Liu flew into South Darfur's capital city Nyala for a
one-day visit to assess security and humanitarian situations there. It
was his second visit to Darfur since his appointment.

Following Sudan, Liu is scheduled to leave for Paris in the early hour
on Thursday for a brief visit and then tour to another African nation
Chad.

Liu, a 62-year-old veteran diplomat and former Chinese ambassador to
Zimbabwe and South Africa, has been engaged in African affairs for
more than 25 years.

Since last May, he had paid three visits to Sudan and also shuttled
between the United States, Britain, Egypt, Libya and other countries
concerned, making unremitting efforts to resolve the Darfur issue.

Source: Xinhua