Iran War Before They Leave?

You wouldn't be surprised, would you, when the only thing between Cheney Bush and Iran is Congress?

Bush got the current fever of speculation going with his speech last week to the American Legion, warning: "Iran's active pursuit of technology that could lead to nuclear weapons threatens to put a region already known for instability and violence under the shadow of a nuclear holocaust.“ He declared that the US and its allies would confront Iran “before it is too late."

  TPM Cafe

Today I received a message from a friend who has excellent connections in Washington and whose information has often been prescient. According to this report, as in 2002, the rollout will start after Labor Day, with a big kickoff on September 11. My friend had spoken to someone in one of the leading neo-conservative institutions. He summarized what he was told this way:

They [the source's institution] have "instructions" (yes, that was the word used) from the Office of the Vice-President to roll out a campaign for war with Iran in the week after Labor Day; it will be coordinated with the American Enterprise Institute, the Wall Street Journal, the Weekly Standard, Commentary, Fox, and the usual suspects. It will be heavy sustained assault on the airwaves, designed to knock public sentiment into a position from which a war can be maintained. Evidently they don't think they'll ever get majority support for this--they want something like 35-40 percent support, which in their book is "plenty."

Of course I cannot verify this report. But besides all the other pieces of information about this circulating, I heard last week from a former U.S. government contractor. According to this friend, someone in the Department of Defense called, asking for cost estimates for a model for reconstruction in Asia. The former contractor finally concluded that the model was intended for Iran. This anecdote is also inconclusive, but it is consistent with the depth of planning that went into the reconstruction effort in Iraq and Afghanistan.

  Barnett Rubin, Informed Comment Global Affairs

It follows the pattern of the P.R. campaign that started around this time in 2002 and led to the Iraq war. The President’s rhetoric on Iran has been nothing short of bellicose lately, warning of “the shadow of a nuclear holocaust.” And the Iranian government’s behavior—detaining British servicemen and arresting American passport holders, pushing ahead with uranium enrichment, and, by many reliable accounts, increasing its funding and training for anti-American militias in Iraq—seems intentionally provocative.

[...]

Postscript: Barnett Rubin just called me. His source spoke with a neocon think-tanker who corroborated the story of the propaganda campaign and had this to say about it: “I am a Republican. I am a conservative. But I’m not a raging lunatic. This is lunatic.”

  New Yorker

I see more evidence for the idea in Bush's recent talk about a possible draw down of troops in Iraq if there is some "success" there. Out of Iraq and ready to deploy to Iran.

The "Petraeus" report on September 11 can be expected to point to some success.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Update appropo of very little: Bush's attitude itself is enough to disgust even nominally sensitive people, and perhaps I take it too far, but have you ever noticed this stance of his?

He stands around with his arms kind of hoisted out away from his body. I always thought it was in an effort to make himself look big and tough. But today when I saw it, I think I realized what it is. When you see over-muscled body-builders, their arms naturally hang that way because the muscles force them to. Bush doesn't actually have those muscles. It must be exhausting to keep the arms in that position without them.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.