The Iran-ball that is. You might think with all the fuss over Pakistan and the Surge that Iran would have slipped through the fissures of President Bush’s cerebrum, but thanks to his puppeteer Vice President (and the good folks at McClatchey) we know that air strikes against those evil Quds forces (at the very least) are still on the table:
WASHINGTON — President Bush charged Thursday that Iran continues to arm and train insurgents who are killing U.S. soldiers in Iraq, and he threatened action if that continues.
At a news conference Thursday, Bush said Iran had been warned of unspecified consequences if it continued its alleged support for anti-American forces in Iraq. U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker had conveyed the warning in meetings with his Iranian counterpart in Baghdad, the president said. […]
… Vice President Dick Cheney several weeks ago proposed launching airstrikes at suspected training camps in Iraq run by the Quds force, a special unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to two U.S. officials who are involved in Iran policy.
The debate has been accompanied by a growing drumbeat of allegations about Iranian meddling in Iraq from U.S. military officers, administration officials and administration allies outside government and in the news media. It isn’t clear whether the media campaign is intended to build support for limited military action against Iran, to pressure the Iranians to curb their support for Shiite groups in Iraq or both. […]
Cheney, who’s long been skeptical of diplomacy with Iran, argued for military action if hard new evidence emerges of Iran’s complicity in supporting anti-American forces in Iraq; for example, catching a truckload of fighters or weapons crossing into Iraq from Iran, one official said. […]
Lea Anne McBride, a Cheney spokeswoman, said only that “the vice president is right where the president is” on Iran policy.
Bush left no doubt at his news conference that he intended to get tough with Iran.
“One of the main reasons that I asked Ambassador Crocker to meet with Iranians inside Iraq was to send the message that there will be consequences for . . . people transporting, delivering EFPs, highly sophisticated IEDs (improvised explosive devices), that kill Americans in Iraq,” he said.
He also appeared to call on the Iranian people to change their government.
“My message to the Iranian people is, you can do better than this current government,” he said. “You don’t have to be isolated. You don’t have to be in a position where you can’t realize your full economic potential.”
I guess the Dark Lord Vice president still hungers for more blood regime change in the Middle East. Or something. And frankly, who’s going to stop him? Condoleezza Rice? Robert Gates? The Democrats?
Puh-leeeze. Spare me.
“My message to the Iranian people is, you can do better than this current government,” he said. “You don’t have to be isolated. You don’t have to be in a position where you can’t realize your full economic potential.“
So, Iranians should rise up and overthrow their government not because of oppression (or limitations on personal freedom), but because citizens can’t realize their full economic potential. Or is it really because corporate America can’t realize its full economic potential without control of more resources?
But we are still waiting, and will wait forever, for the hard evidence that any of these allegations are based in fact. This is all right out of the pre-Iraq War playbook. Repeat allegations, comment on other peoples comments about the allegations, comment on an editorial which comments on the allegations. Before you know it, you have yourself a “fact” in the minds of the majority of the country. No one in their right mind will be able to argue about the “fact” they will have created. People, we all lived this in 2002-2003 and it is coming around the bend once again. I remember, as I’m sure many here do, all the scorn and ridicule that was heaped on us by those we knew who developed the ultimate hard-on for war during this period. It worked to perfection the first time. Will we Americans allow it work again?
My question is, who’s stopped him until now? And why? Booman Tribune has documented Cheney’s bloodlust for Iran for more than a year now, and still it hasn’t happened.
We heard that the Pentagon was against it, that State was against it, and that the Joint Chiefs were against it. And yet Cheney is still beating the war drum.
Once again I feel like I’m trying to gauge this administration based on logic (I know, I can’t help it, it’s all I have) but something smells funny. If Cheney wants war, then surely all he has to do is to declare it. Why hasn’t he?
Anyone have an answer?
By all appearances, SecDef Gates has been the number one bulwark against Cheney’s war mania.
Given that almost everyone in the Pentagon hated Rumsfeld, and must be seething about what has been done to the fighting capacity of the armed forces, a certain amount of pushback is to be expected.
Admiral Fallon (head of CentCom, in charge of the theater of operations which includes Iraq and Iran, appointed by Gates) has reduced the number of carrier groups in the Gulf. This is basically the military taking the toys away. And given that the administration keeps breaking the ones they’re allowed to play with, who can be suprised?
The real problem is that Cheney is out there actively trying to stir up trouble. It reamins to be seen just what he can do other than be rhetorically nasty to just about everyone, but time will tell.
Bottom line: No guarantees.
To be perfectly honest, what’s stopped him until now has been the hash we have made of Iraq, and the logistical nightmare that has created for future military operations in the Gulf. I think losing Rumsfeld as SecDef also wounded Cheney. The Pentagon’s generals have never been keen on the idea, and Gates supports their views rather than Cheney’s. However, by all appearances Bush is still sold on the idea that Iran is Public Enemy No. One, and should some incident with Iran develop which Cheney could take advantage of I am still of the opinion that Bush would pull the trigger on a war with Iran.
Good analysis, steven and chimneyswift. I am so sick of feeling like we’re standing on the edge of a knife.
No guarantees…
Bush is already missing Tony Blair and looking for another lapdog.
Guess it’s time for W to jerk on the choker chain.
They are saying things like X percent of the munitions used to kill Americans are of Iranian manufacture. I wonder what percentage is of US manufacture? Should we invade ourselves if it as high or higher?