Coincidentally, my internet radio is playing “Won’t get fooled again” as I write this. As it is also in my sig, I think more and more people are starting to realize that if enough of us don’t speak up and vociferously call bullshit on this all-hat-no-cattle bloviating about Iran’s “meddling” in Iraq then the psychotic lunatics who have hijacked our foreign policy and crashed it into Iraq are going to back that car up and head straight for Iran.
And maybe, just maybe, we are seeing a forceful enough pushback that, if kept up, we can actually avoid having Iran replace Iraq as the “ most dangerous foreign policy blunder” in nearly half a century.
Sure, there are some who are the cheerleaders, since war sells. But since there is no shortage of dumb war decisions over the past five years, how many more are needed anyway? With a growing number of high level military officials, and even some in the Bush administration who had orgasmic fantasies about making Saddam the United States’ bitch (disclaimer: please don’t take that as a personal attack against female dogs or anything other than a colorful description of the asininity of the US Iraq policy. And yes, asininity is a word) speaking out on this Iran “evidence”, we may not be hurtling towards Armageddon after all.
Talk about a potential Constitutional crisis – what would happen if Cheney and his minions continue to press for military action on Iran based on evidence that is simply not believable, or even if it is, doesn’t warrant air strikes or mass bombings? And what happens if the military doesn’t believe this evidence is credible or warranted? And what happens if US opinion is overwhelmingly against such action (or doesn’t necessarily believe the validity of such evidence)? Would the top military finally refuse to follow the insane orders of the unhinged Executive Branch? What if they don’t refuse, even though they don’t think it is credible or justified?
We know that earlier in the week, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Peter Pace expressed his concern over this evidence:
"We know that the explosively formed projectiles are manufactured in Iran. What I would not say is that the Iranian government per se knows about this," Pace replied. "It is clear that Iranians are involved and it is clear that materials from Iran are involved. But I would not say based on what I know that the Iranian government clearly knows or is complicit."
Not exactly a vote of confidence in this evidence. And we know that while Tony Snow is stumbling and fumbling his way around these comments, a member of Pace’s staff has indicated that Pace stands by his comments.
We also heard National Security Advisor (whose fingers were all over the Iraq disaster) Stephen Hadley call the evidence “overstated”.
Just today, Pace was joined by CentCom Commander William Fallon joined in on the “bullshit calling”:
Today on CNN, CentCom Commander William Fallon, the top commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, was asked about the administration’s claim. Fallon said, “I have no idea who may be actually with hands-on in this stuff.”
A late January article from the LA Times not only indicated that the evidence is “scant” but also alluded to a “grasping at straws” by the Bush administration:
Some U.S. officials have also suggested that Iran, a Shiite theocracy, has provided aid to the Sunni insurgents, who have led most of the attacks against U.S. forces. Private analysts and other U.S. officials doubt that.
Iran helping the Sunnis. Yeah, right. But we do know who is financing the Sunnis and it ain’t Iran.
Even the ultra-conservative (or ultra-neoconish) US News & World Report is reporting this with the headline Another Blow to Bush’s Credibility? The article cites NBC Nightly News, CNN’s Lou Dobbs Tonight, McClatchy, the Washington Post and even Fox News as reporting about the lack of credibility of this Administration.
Even Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki’s office (who should be at least a bit of an ally to the US) is doubting the evidence. According to this week’s TIME:
But an official in the Prime Minister's office questioned the credibility of U.S. intelligence, pointing to recent reports of evidence-fudging at the Pentagon in the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq. "They need a scapegoat, so they conveniently point to their old enemy, Iran," said the official, who asked not to be named because he is not authorized to talk to the media. "But these days American intelligence is a discredited commodity. Who can believe them?"
No doubt that as the push to beat the war drum grows louder, more people will start to focus on Iran and this supposed “evidence”. But this time, many more are starting to ask questions. Even some in the press are calling bullshit on these assertions.
We know that Cheney and his insane followers aren’t going to let up. And we can’t either. We are pushing the Overton Window back into sanity range. We need to keep pushing, and keep pushing hard. It is working.
Nobody thinks this is a good idea. That is, nobody except the lunatics that gave us the Iraq disaster. We aren’t getting fooled again.
2 comments:
Just one thing....and we know it's true, how much ammo does the "insurgency" possess that they acquired on the black market that has a Made in USA stamp on it? And what about that Saudi assistance? More stuff that the "liberal media" seems to be missing.
Perhaps Americans will finally wake up to the realization that representative democracy is little more than a highly evolved pyramid scheme managed by aristocrats and their secret society shills who have never forgiven us for turning away from monarchial and Vatican rule...
Just a thought...
Here is Wisdom !!
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