The Same Failed Disastrous Recipe?

A former CIA operative who says he tried to warn the agency about faulty intelligence on Iraqi weapons programs now contends that CIA officials also ignored evidence that Iran had suspended work on a nuclear bomb.

The onetime undercover agent, who has been barred by the CIA from using his real name, filed a motion in federal court late Friday asking the government to declassify legal documents describing what he says was a deliberate suppression of findings on Iran that were contrary to agency views at the time.

  WaPo

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

Those Who Don't Learn from the Past

Are doomed to repeat it.

U.S. congressional leaders agreed late last year to President George W. Bush's funding request for a major escalation of covert operations against Iran aimed at destabilizing its leadership, according to a report in The New Yorker magazine published online on Sunday.

The article by reporter Seymour Hersh, from the magazine's July 7 and 14 issue, centers around a highly classified Presidential Finding signed by Bush which by U.S. law must be made known to Democratic and Republican House and Senate leaders and ranking members of the intelligence committees.

"The Finding was focused on undermining Iran's nuclear ambitions and trying to undermine the government through regime change," the article cited a person familiar with its contents as saying, and involved "working with opposition groups and passing money."

[...]

Funding for the covert escalation, for which Bush requested up to $400 million, was approved by congressional leaders, according to the article, citing current and former military, intelligence and congressional sources.

[...]

Clandestine operations against Iran are not new. U.S. Special Operations Forces have been conducting crossborder operations from southern Iraq since last year, the article said.

[...]

But the scale and the scope of the operations in Iran, which include the Central Intelligence Agency, have now been significantly expanded, the article said, citing current and former officials.

[...]

Among groups inside Iran benefiting from U.S. support is the Jundallah, also known as the Iranian People's Resistance Movement, according to former CIA officer Robert Baer. Council on Foreign Relations analyst Vali Nasr described it to Hersh as a vicious organization suspected of links to al Qaeda.

[...]

None of the Democratic leaders in Congress would comment on the finding, the article said. The White House, which has repeatedly denied preparing for military action against Iran, and the CIA also declined comment.

  Raw Story

Recipe for disaster. Let’s use it again.

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

Who Are You Going to Believe?

The White House on Tuesday denied a published report in Israel that said President Bush intends to attack Iran before the end of his term in January.

A story in the Jerusalem Post quoted a "senior official" there as saying that Bush plans to attack Iran in the coming months. The story says the unidentified official claimed that a "senior member" of Bush's traveling entourage made the statement about attacking Iran in a closed meeting.

[...]

"An article in today's Jerusalem Post about the president's position on Iran that quotes unnamed sources — quoting unnamed sources — is not worth the paper it's written on," White House press secretary Dana Perino said in a statement.

  Yahoo

To which her husband replied, “Oh, Dana.”

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

While You Were Sleeping

May 2, 2008

Six weeks ago, President Bush signed a secret finding authorizing a covert offensive against the Iranian regime that, according to those familiar with its contents, "unprecedented in its scope."

Bush’s secret directive covers actions across a huge geographic area – from Lebanon to Afghanistan – but is also far more sweeping in the type of actions permitted under its guidelines – up to and including the assassination of targeted officials.

[...]

Until recently, the administration faced a serious obstacle to action against Iran in the form of Centcom commander Admiral William Fallon, who made no secret of his contempt for official determination to take us to war. In a widely publicized incident last January, Iranian patrol boats approached a U.S. ship in what the Pentagon described as a "taunting" manner. According to Centcom staff officers, the American commander on the spot was about to open fire. At that point, the U.S. was close to war. He desisted only when Fallon personally and explicitly ordered him not to shoot. The White House, according to the staff officers, was "absolutely furious" with Fallon for defusing the incident.

Fallon has since departed.

[...]

All this costs money, which in turn must be authorized by Congress, or at least a by few witting members of the intelligence committees. That has not proved a problem. An initial outlay of $300 million to finance implementation of the finding has been swiftly approved with bipartisan support, apparently regardless of the unpopularity of the current war and the perilous condition of the U.S. economy.

  Counterpunch

One thousand years.

Meanwhile

Meanwhile, a little noticed report in the UK press gives new fears to those who believe the US is still considering mounting an attack on Iran.

Israel security officials are set to brief President Bush on their "Iran file" regarding the country's alleged nuclear weapons program "and how it could be destroyed - when he begins a tour of the Middle East in Jerusalem this week," the UK Times Uzi Mahnaimi reported Sunday.

"Ehud Barak, the defence minister, is said to want to convince him that an Israeli military strike against uranium enrichment facilities in Iran would be feasible if diplomatic efforts failed to halt nuclear operations," the paper added. "A range of military options has been prepared."

Despite a US National Intelligence Estimate last month which asserted that Iran abandoned a secret nuclear weapons program in 2003, Israel believes the program has been restarted.

  Raw Story

Despite not having any evidence to dispute the US NIE which said Iran has given up its nuclear weapons program, Israel, and George Bush, believe that Iran is a threat that needs to be nipped in the bud.

"In an interview with the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot this weekend, Bush argued that in spite of the US intelligence assessment, Iran still posed a threat."

Yediot interviews idiot.

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

Preposterous

Four former CIA officials who provided intelligence information to past presidents described as preposterous President Bush's claim that he was unaware until very recently that Iran had stopped its nuclear weapons program in 2003.

[...]

[Former CIA official Ray] McGovern was totally incredulous: "The notion that the head of National Intelligence whispered in Bush's ear 'I've got a surprise for you and it's really important, but I'm not going to tell you about it until we check it out' -- The whole thing is preposterous," he said in an interview with The Huffington Post.

[...]

Larry Johnson pointed out that the National Intelligence Estimate is actually the result of an analysis of information from all intelligence agencies. The material on which the NIE report was based had been acquired well before the report itself was issued to the public.

When that information first became available to the CIA and other agencies, it would automatically have been included in the Presidential Daily Briefing (PDB) months before the NIE report, Johnson said. The President, Vice President, Defense Secretary and Secretary of State are all given daily accounts of the PDB, Johnson said. McGovern and Goodman agreed.

  Huffington Post

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

Nothing's Changed

Wednesday, the White House said the United States will continue "actively pushing" for a third, tougher round of United Nations sanctions against Iran. Deputy press secretary Tony Fratto said Iran continues to hide information, remains in violation of two U.N. Security Council resolutions, tests ballistic missiles and is enriching uranium.

"Anyone who thinks that the threat from Iran has receded or diminished is naive and is not paying attention to the facts," Fratto told reporters flying aboard Air Force One with Bush en route to Nebraska.

  Yahoo

Iran in Our Sights

In my last post, I quoted George Bush as saying that the policy on Iran hasn't changed. That's also the conclusion of Sy Hersh, who goes further than Iran to say that "nothing's changed" in American foreign policy, in this interview at Information Clearinghouse discussing the Cheney architects of war.

I suggest you read it. It's short and offers some clues about just how far toward an attack on Iran our government really leans.

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

Regime Change in Iran

Bush was queried in a press conference about the latest NIE which reports that Iran had suspended its nuclear weapons program back in 2003. He starts out by taking credit for the information being made public. One can only wonder.

THE PRESIDENT: […] One of the reasons why this is out in the public arena is because I wanted -- and our administration believed that, one, it was important for people to know the facts as we see them. Secondly, that members of my administration had been very clear about the weapons program earlier this year and, therefore, it's important for the American people to see that there has been a -- a reevaluation of the Iranian issue.

David.

Q Mr. President, thank you. I'd like to follow on that. When you talked about Iraq, you and others in the administration talked about a mushroom cloud; then there were no WMD in Iraq. When it came to Iran, you said in October, on October 17th, you warned about the prospect of World War III, when months before you made that statement, this intelligence about them suspending their weapons program back in '03 had already come to light to this administration. So can't you be accused of hyping this threat? And don't you worry that that undermines U.S. credibility?

THE PRESIDENT: David, I don't want to contradict an august reporter such as yourself, but I was made aware of the NIE last week. In August, I think it was Mike McConnell came in and said, we have some new information. He didn't tell me what the information was; he did tell me it was going to take a while to analyze.

  WH Press Release

Condescending little snot.

It took from August to December to analyze, huh?

Even though McConnell told George there was new information, it didn’t give George pause enough to stop hyping the B/S while he was waiting to find out what that new information was. The fact that McConnell said there was new information didn’t give him reason to think it might be something contradictory? Horsefeathers.

People say, would you ever talk to Iran? For you veterans here, for those who have been following this administration for a while, you might remember that I have consistently said that we will be at the table with the EU-3 if Iran would verifiably suspend their program -- and the offer still stands.

[...]

And my hope is, is that the Iranian regime takes a look at their policies and changes their policies back to where we were prior to the election of Ahmadinejad, which was a hopeful period. They had suspended their program, they were at the table. The United States had made some very positive gestures to convince them that there was a better way forward. And hopefully we can get back to that day.

What is he saying here besides Ahmadinejad needs to go? Like Saddam. Because the NIE claims that Iran has suspended their nuclear weapons program. I think we have the sum of George’s response to the NIE in this statement: “So our policy remains the same.”

Before I go, I just want to comment on this little phrase:

Now, the Iranians -- the most difficult aspect of developing a weapons program, or as some would say, the long pole in the tent, is enriching uranium.

Where the hell did that “long pole in the tent” bit come from? Who’s been saying that? Somehow, even if that is a folksy phrase that “some would say”, would it be used to indicate a difficult aspect of something?

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

More Dick Trails?

Allegations that a Syrian envoy admitted during a United Nations meeting Oct. 17 that an Israeli air strike hit a nuclear facility in September are inaccurate and have raised the ire of some in the US intelligence community, who see the Vice President’s hand as allegedly being behind the disinformation.

[...]

Recent news articles [...] continue to make allegations and suggest that a nuclear weapons facility was hit -- something that the Syrian government has denied, the Israeli government has not officially confirmed and US intelligence does not show.

[...]

What concerns intelligence officials is what appears to be manipulation of the press and strategic leaks to the public of false information, undercutting professional intelligence analysis, similar to what occurred before the Iraq war in an apparent effort to bolster support for engaging Iran.

  Raw Story

And just to be clear how important the disinformation is (as though you don’t already know from the experience with pre-Iraq invasion disinformation)…

An article today quotes former Administration hawk and onetime Bush United Nations Ambassador John Bolton, who links Syria's alleged action with Iran.

Even with all the nationalist screeching and administration railroading, up until the moment the official pronouncement of the Iraq invasion occurred, I had remained optimistic that reality and somebody with good sense would avert such an action. I have no such delusions this time. We will be attacking Iran.

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

One Man Between Iran and Obliteration?

Pentagon sources say [war secretary Robert] Gates is waging a subtle campaign to undermine the Cheney camp by encouraging the army's senior officers to speak frankly about the overstretch of forces, and the difficulty of fighting another war.

Bruce Reidel, a former CIA Middle East officer, said: "Cheney's people know they can beat Condi. They have been doing it for six years. Bob Gates is a different kettle of fish. He doesn't owe the President anything. He is urging his officers to be completely honest, knowing what that means."

  UK Daily Telegraph

Yeah, good luck with that.

General George Casey, the army's new chief of staff, [...] told Congress the army was "out of balance" and added: "The demand for our forces exceeds the sustainable supply. We are consumed with meeting the demands of the current fight, and are unable to provide ready forces as rapidly as necessary for other potential contingencies."

I think we’ve got 30,000 just about ready to move. And it doesn’t take a lot of soldiers to drop megatons of obliterating missiles on a country. All it takes is another, perhaps bigger, 9/11.

One CIA insider said: "Bush understands that any increase in real military hostilities in Iran right now could have a negative effect. Bob Gates is the only one opposed to it. He's the single person in the US government who has any standing with the White House fighting it."

That’s not very good odds.

The intelligence community over the next few months is going to come out with three different reports on Iran about internal political problems of Iran, about the economy, and about their nuclear capability.

Those are going to be key to decide what the Bush administration is going to do, and it’s the intelligence community I think trying to slow down what the president, most particularly the vice president, want to do in Iran.

  Howard Fineman [from Think Progress]

Yeah, good luck with that.

Where the hell is Congress?

Oh yeah.

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

Bombers Drilling in Eugene

I live 10 miles south of the Eugene airport. Early in 2003, prior to President Bush's invasion of Iraq, there were numerous military aircraft practicing approaches to the airport.

Some of the craft were so low and so noxiously loud that my wife called the airport to complain.The airport operator connected her directly to the air controllers in the tower, where they confirmed that military aircraft crews were practicing instrument approaches. Weeks later, Bush invaded Iraq.

Well, they're at it again. There is a B1 bomber crew - yes, a B1 bomber - that for weeks has been making practice runs on the airport and again the air controller on duty confirmed they are practicing instrument approaches. Coincidently, the Air Force last week "mistakenly" flew a planeload of nuclear bombs across America's skies to the East Coast.

Iranian officials had better beware. For the record, I am a four-year veteran of the Korean conflict era, and I do not appreciate what this country has become. I am so ashamed.

Jim Clarkson
Eugene

  Letter to the editor 9/29/07: Eugene, Oregon Register Guard

Deaf

Friday, 28 September 2007

"I got my hammer ringin', baby, but the nails ain't goin' down."
-- Bob Dylan

Hammerblows of truth keep falling on the Bush Regime's propaganda campaign for war against Iran, which has been built up out of allegations so specious and shoddy that they make the manifold deceits of the Attack Iraq carnival look like gospel truth. But far from doing any damage to the engine of death now rolling toward Persia, the hammers are not even being heard above the roar.

Of course, it is actually inaccurate to refer to the "Bush Regime's propaganda campaign." As we have noted here before, the Democratic-led Congress has already overwhelmingly swallowed the Bush case for war – the Senate even accepted the Regime's mendacious casus belli unanimously. And this week, the Democrats went even further in adopting aggression against Iran as their own cause, when a majority of them joined with the obedient goose-steppers of the GOP in support of the Kyl-Lieberman amendment, which effectively if not officially authorized military action against Iran by declaring the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a "foreign terrorist organization" and tying it to attacks on American soldiers in Iraq.

Continue reading Lost in the Roar at Empire Burlesque.

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

Continuing Ramp-age

Germany — a pivotal player among three European nations to rein in Iran's nuclear program over the last two-and-a-half years through a mixture of diplomacy and sanctions supported by the United States — notified its allies last week that the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel refuses to support the imposition of any further sanctions against Iran that could be imposed by the U.N. Security Council.

The announcement was made at a meeting in Berlin that brought German officials together with Iran desk officers from the five member states of the Security Council. It stunned the room, according to one of several Bush administration and foreign government sources who spoke to FOX News, and left most Bush administration principals concluding that sanctions are dead.

[...]

Political and military officers, as well as weapons of mass destruction specialists at the State Department, are now advising Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that the diplomatic approach [...] has failed and the administration must actively prepare for military intervention of some kind.

[...]

Consequently, according to a well-placed Bush administration source, "everyone in town" is now participating in a broad discussion about the costs and benefits of military action against Iran, with the likely timeframe for any such course of action being over the next eight to 10 months, after the presidential primaries have probably been decided, but well before the November 2008 elections.

  Fox News

Sources that speak to Fox News are not exactly independent and trustworthy, but let's back up just a minute. "Consequently" is the wrong word. "Everyone in town" has been discussing military action against Iran for quite some time. Let's not blame it on Germany.

The Bush administration "has just about had it with Iran," said one foreign diplomat. "They tried the diplomatic process. China is now obstructing them at the U.N. Security Council and the Russians are tucking themselves behind them.

Okay, we'll blame it on Russia and China.

The Bush administration "has just about had it with Iran." So very put upon.

The next shoe to drop will be when Rice and President Bush make a final decision about whether to designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and/or its lethal subset, the Quds Force, as a terrorist entity or entities.

Like that decision hasn't already been made.

Why do I read this crap?

Closer and Closer

The Pentagon is preparing to build its first base for U.S. forces near the Iraqi-Iranian border, in a major new effort to curb the flow of advanced Iranian weaponry to Shiite militants across Iraq.

  WSJ

Or to be a handy place from which to launch missions into Iran, more like.

I can see that if one were planning to invade another country from an adjacent one, one would not want the adjacent one to be independently run (handed over to the Iraqis in this case) before the bases were built and utilized.

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

And We're Off and Running

The New Yorker’s George Packer wrote that the White House was reportedly planning a post-Labor Day PR blitz to promote a war against Iran. According to Packer’s source, FOX News was to be part of the co-ordinated effort. Sure enough, following Bill Kristol’s morning warmongering on FOX & Friends, chickenhawk Michael Ledeen was the sole guest in a Hannity & Colmes discussion devoted to the war effort.

[...]

Ledeen told Sean Hannity during the first part of the discussion, “It could be almost any day now” until we have to make a choice whether to attack Iran militarily or allow them to have nuclear capability “with all that implies.” It was very reminiscent of the "mushroom cloud" argument during the run-up to the Iraq war.

[...]

During Colmes’ portion, he mentioned that in 2006, Ledeen wrote in the National Review that he had opposed the war in Iraq before it happened. Then Colmes put up a 2002 quote from Ledeen about Iraq, “One can only hope that we turn the region into a cauldron.”

  News Hounds

News Hounds found the expanded quote:

"[Brent Scowcroft] fears that if we attack Iraq "I think we could have an explosion in the Middle East. It could turn the whole region into a caldron and destroy the War on Terror."

One can only hope that we turn the region into a cauldron, and faster, please. If ever there were a region that richly deserved being cauldronized, it is the Middle East today. If we wage the war effectively, we will bring down the terror regimes in Iraq, Iran, and Syria."

In case the name Michael Ledeen isn't yet familiar, check this Alternet article about this old Iran-Contra player's influence in the cauldronization of the Middle East, this American Conservative article about his affinity for fascism, and this Juan Cole post that includes his involvement in the Niger yellowcake forgeries.

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

Craig Update

This one's going to be messier than it needed to be. But then, maybe it's going to grab headlines while something important goes on in the background - say like the run-up to invading Iran. I mean, it is kind of weird that the actual arrest happened in June, and the story didn't come out until the end of August, just before the scheduled "Petraeus" report, and the alleged Cheney scheduled drive to ramp up support for an invasion of Iran.

Following the post where I noted a strange emphasis on the word "intent" when Senator Craig announced his intent to retire, we now have the latest: He's rethinking the whole thing.

And surely he can keep the attention off the economy. That GOP pressure he's been getting may soften up when they realize what a great distraction he can make.

"Heading for the Rocks" is the title of a new report from The Economist on the U.S. economy. The title is a somewhat sensationalist. However, it is important that people understand there is tremendous risk in the markets right now.

[...]

The markets have a lot of problems to work through right now. The process won't be easy -- and in fact is very dangerous. While I have faith we will get through this, it will be a difficult time for all.

  Hale Stewart, Huffington Post

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

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.

PNAC's Inspiration

Right out of the comic books. T-Man 1952.

Hat tip to Joe.

Click here to get the story. (Click picture to enlarge.)

....or do what you want....you will anyway.

And, oh yeah...

In conjunction with posting about the nuke training exercises off Charleston this month, I should have reposted this:

In Washington it is hardly a secret that the same people in and around the administration who brought you Iraq are preparing to do the same for Iran. The Pentagon, acting under instructions from Vice President Dick Cheney’s office, has tasked the United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM) with drawing up a contingency plan to be employed in response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States. The plan includes a large-scale air assault on Iran employing both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons. Within Iran there are more than 450 major strategic targets, including numerous suspected nuclear-weapons-program development sites. Many of the targets are hardened or are deep underground and could not be taken out by conventional weapons, hence the nuclear option. As in the case of Iraq, the response is not conditional on Iran actually being involved in the act of terrorism directed against the United States. Several senior Air Force officers involved in the planning are reportedly appalled at the implications of what they are doing—that Iran is being set up for an unprovoked nuclear attack—but no one is prepared to damage his career by posing any objections.

  American Conservative article [Ed: emphasis added]