EFLtrainer
Joined: 04 May 2005
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 Posted: Tue Oct 24, 2006 12:00 pm Post subject: |
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Sdeming more likely all the time. do you really think the Plan B/New American Century/Bush Cadre will allow themselves to lose this election?
http://www.hnn.us/articles/31051.html
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Moves toward War with Iran: Part 2
By William R. Polk
Mr. Polk was the member of the U.S. Policy Planning Council responsible for the Middle East from 1961 to 1965. Subsequently, he was professor of history and director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Chicago and later president of the Adlai Stevenson Institute of International Affairs. Author of many books on international affairs, world and Middle Eastern history, he recently wrote Understanding Iraq (HarperCollins, New York and London 2005 and 2006) and, together with former Senator George McGovern, Out of Iraq: A Practical Plan for Withdrawal Now (Simon & Schuster, New York, 2006).
In my first article, I set out why I think an American attack on Iran is likely. Now I will show what steps are being taken to prepare for that event.
The first step toward war is to prepare the public. That step was partly taken in the 2005 �National Defense Strategy� which proclaimed... "At the direction of the President, we will defeat adversaries at the time, place, and in the manner of our choosing ....�
The second step is to show that alternative methods to cope with the proclaimed threat to the security of the United States have not worked. To this end, the United States has approached the UN Security Council as a whole and its members individually to discuss what they are willing to do. The response was lukewarm.
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In recent days, world leaders have come out flatly against the idea of military action: German Prime Minister Merkel... the Chinese foreign minister said... The French foreign minister proclaimed on September 5... the Italian and Russian foreign ministers echoed the same sentiment... According to press reports, the British government has told the Bush administration that it will not take part in any armed action against Iran. Probably the sole advocate of military action is Israel.
Military action has been in planning since before the wars with Afghanistan and Iraq...
The Israeli bombardment of Lebanon has been regarded as a test. Seymour Hersh reported in The New Yorker talks he had with current and retired American military and intelligence experts who told him that it was regarded as �a prelude to a potential American preemptive attack to destroy Iran�s nuclear installations.�...
The Air Force plans have been resisted by the senior generals of the Army, Navy and Marine corps. In rare public statements and frequently in private, they have said that the plans are fatally flawed...
The Washington Post has reported that at least since March, large teams have been working on invasion plans in the Pentagon and the intelligence agencies, while the Iran �desk� at the State Department has been augmented to task force size. It reports to Elizabeth Cheney, daughter of the vice president, who is assistant secretary of state for the Near East. In the Pentagon, a similar organization has been established under Neoconservative Abram Shulsky. In addition a new outpost has been set up in Dubai to coordinate plans. On October 2, a powerful naval battle group around the giant aircraft carrier Eisenhower sailed for the Persian Gulf and is due to arrive a week before the November Congressional elections to join a similar battle group led by the aircraft carrier Enterprise. Meanwhile aircraft of the U.S. Air Force are being readied in bases surrounding Iran and in distant locations. These forces could deliver destructive power that would dwarf the aerial assaults on Iraq. |
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