A year ago there were signs, duly reported by Seymour Hersh and others, that the United States and Israel were working out the targeting details of an aerial attack on Iran that it was anticipated would occur in June 2005 (see Hersh, Gush Shalom, Jensen). But as Michel Chossudovsky wrote in May 2005, widespread reports that George W. Bush had “signed off on” an attack on Iran did not signify that the attack would necessarily occur during the summer of 2005: what the ‘signing off’ suggested was rather “that the US and Israel [were] ‘in a state of readiness’ and [were] prepared to launch an attack by June or at a later date. In other words, the decision to launch the attack [had] not been made” (Chossudovsky: May 2005).
Since December 2005, however, there have been much firmer indications both that the planned attack will go ahead in late March 2006, and also that the Cheney-Bush administration intends it to involve the use of nuclear weapons.
It is important to understand the nature and scale of the war crimes that are being planned—and no less important to recognize that, as in the case of the Bush regime’s assault on Iraq, the pretexts being advanced to legitimize this intended aggression are entirely fraudulent. Unless the lurid fantasies of people like former Undersecretary for Arms Control and International Security and now Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton count as evidence—and Bolton’s pronouncements on the weaponry supposedly possessed by Iraq, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela show him to be less acquainted with truth than Jean Harlow was with chastity—there is no evidence that Iran has or has ever had any nuclear weapons development program. Claims to the contrary, however loudly they may have been trumpeted by Fox News, CNN, or The New York Times, are demonstrably false.
Nor does there appear to be the remotest possibility, whatever desperate measures the Iranian government might be frightened into by American and Israeli threats of pre-emptive attacks, that Iran would be able to produce nuclear weapons in the near future. On August 2, 2005, The Washington Post reported that according to the most recent National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), which represents a consensus arrived at among U.S. intelligence agencies, “Iran is about a decade away from manufacturing the key ingredient for a nuclear weapon, roughly doubling the previous estimate of five years” (Linzer, quoted by Clark, 28 Jan. 2006).
Read the rest of this in-depth analysis at the Global Research site.
Note: Global Research
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I’ve been following this situation for awhile and this article covers many key points I’ve seen elsewhere and a few new points I haven’t come across.
It seems these desperately insane fools in Washington are willing to engage in nuclear war and risk World War III. If they are stupid enough to move forward with these plans China, with $200 billion invested in Iran, Russia and possibly others will not sit back and allow the US to control the world’s oil supply and therefore economy.
Are they really this stupid?
Some sanity here would be a breath of fresh air.
Russia may be far weaker than it was formerly, but last time I checked their military still had more than enough nukes to turn the US into a nation the closely resemles a glow in the dark parking lot.
As for China, they could probably field an army of over 30 million in Iran in under 3 weeks and just human wave the US forces there into oblivion.
It's not like they can't afford the losses.
Something tells me that not going to happen unless Bush and his band of megalomaniacs have a global death wish.
But then again, the Bush Regime has shown time and time again how much it values human life.
It might play out like this: the US uses nukes, chances are Russia would use nukes on the Americans, the Pakistani's might use nukes on the Americans because their Muslim majority would go ape shit if they didn't, India would go ballistic because the Pakistanis used nukes regardless of target and reason, the Israelis would see what was going on say "fuck this" and proceed to toast every Arab capital their planes and missiles could reach because they know they're pretty much dead regardless, the Chinese would use their nukes because the Americans used theirs, the Koreans would possibly wade in simply because Kim Il Jung is as crazy as Bush.
Oh joy, oh bliss, oh rapture divine...
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Dave Ruston
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<a href="http://www.rense.com/general59/theSunburniransawesome.htm">http://www.rense.com/general59/theSunburniransawesome.htm</a><br />
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After reading the article found at the above link, and doing a bit of backup research on the matter - Russia's Suburn missiles are no laughing matter, "a weapon for which the US Navy currently has no defense". Even though Russia has the appearance of being a derelict nation with little or no defense... masks often slip off to reveal a completely different face than expected.<br />
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The Sunburn (called the most powerful missile in the world) can deliver a 200-kiloton nuclear payload, or: a 750-pound conventional warhead, within a range of 100 miles, more than twice the range of the Exocet. The Sunburn combines a Mach 2.1 speed (two times the speed of sound) with a flight pattern that hugs the deck and includes "violent end maneuvers" to elude enemy defenses. The missile was specifically designed to defeat the US Aegis radar defense system. Should a US Navy Phalanx point defense somehow manage to detect an incoming Sunburn missile, the system has only seconds to calculate a fire solution not enough time to take out the intruding missile. The US Phalanx defense employs a six-barreled gun that fires 3,000 depleted-uranium rounds a minute, but the gun must have precise coordinates to destroy an intruder "just in time."<br />
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"The Sunburn's combined supersonic speed and payload size produce tremendous kinetic energy on impact, with devastating consequences for ship and crew. A single one of these missiles can sink a large warship, yet costs considerably less than a fighter jet."<br />
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And who do you think the top buyers are for this product? China and Iran. <br />
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Do any of you remember all the war gaming activity and excercises going on throughout 2005? For the first time, Russia and China combined troops on their borders in order to partake in joint military excercises. Before that, Operation Summer Pulse saw the simultaneous deployment of seven aircraft carrier strike groups (CSGs) in order to demonstrate the ability of the Navy to provide credible combat power across the globe by operating in five theaters with other U.S., allied, and coalition military forces.<br />
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A whole lotta muscle flexing going on...<br />
Hmmm... Zbigniew Brzezinski's 'Grand Chessboard' is getting a real workout.<br />
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It remains to be seen whether Bush Co., Blair Ltd et. al. will actually turn themselves into suicide bombers.<p>---<br>"I'll be glad to talk about ranching, but I haven't seen the movie. I've heard about it. I hope you go — you know — I hope you go back to the ranch and the farm
flag terror eruption." The ink and blood being spilled
over political cartoons has the earmarks of warmongering. It's
Propaganda 101 for the semi-literate. And how temptingly easy it
was ...
The simple, powerful propaganda message is: us against them.
Who? Well, them! See "them" howling in the streets. Them bad.
Them believes in some other god. Them's a threat to the U.S.A.
Pretty soon ... gotta get "them."
It doesn't have to make sense. All it has to do is to stoke anger: Us
against Them. Them bad.
And Stockwell Day is in position for this kind of stuff. The Minister
of Public Safety will get first call on what to do if "them" gives a
wrong answer at an airport or border crossing. Meantime,
Canadian troops are heading into Afghanistan to "take command"
so that the U.S. forces can go home to great acclaim for Bush.
And we won't be able to get our guys out, because the War on
Terror will escalate. Just think of it: 91% of the world's heroin
comes from Afghanistan and Canadian troops are now in charge
of that. Of "them."
The planned U.S. assault on Iran is scheduled for March 2006?
Seems to fit.
Kinda makes one think of the Reichstag Fire when considering 911 doesn't it?
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"It's a heck of a place to bring your family." —George W. Bush, on New Orleans, La., Jan. 12, 2006
They plan to invade Iran because they want to spread the Gospel of Democracy to the enslaved masses of Islam.
The godless Russians and Chinese will quake in terror, and run like the cowards they are.
Okay..sorry.. just felt like being sarcastic for a few minutes.
Have to admit, I did do a good Bill O'Reilly tho'. heh