Tag Archives: Iran

Iran Watch

(updated)
Peace
–30 Senators warn Bush he has no authority. Can it be the Congress has grown a little stub of a backbone? Sen. Hagel also sent a separate letter to the president.
–EFPs are not exclusive Iranian! The administration knew and (surprise, surprise) made dramatic accusations anyway.
-IAEA cheif, El Baradei, says Iran would take 3-8 years to make a bomb.
–ElBaradei: Military Strike On Iran ‘Would Lead Absolutely To Disaster’
-FLASHBACK: US encourages Iranian nuclear program.
-Former national security advisor Brzezinski compares current bluster to Iraq lies.
-Iraqi political researcher says Iran “has played a pivotal role” in Shiite peace deal.
–Why the recent sanctions will fail.
–Putin says no evidence of Iran bomb plan.
–Putin warns against more Iran sanctions.
–Putin warns against attack.
–Defense Secretary Gates says Iran planning only routine.
-More signs of pentagon resistance to Iran invasion.
-Fantastic AlterNet article about the military’s resistance to striking Iran. It quotes the UK Telegraph in saying that Gates is waging “a subtle campaign to undermine the Cheney camp” and that he is “encouraging the Army’s senior officers to speak frankly about the overstretch of forces, and the difficulty of fighting another war.” Shipman reports Gates has “forged an alliance with Mike McConnell, the national director of intelligence, and Michael Hayden, the head of the Central Intelligence Agency, to ensure that Mr. Cheney’s office is not the dominant conduit of information and planning on Iran to Mr. Bush.”
–China opposes sanctions against Iran.
-I publish letter to editor. (They slammed it with a ridiculous title.)

For Voters: Republican debate highlights.

WAR! WAR! WAR!
–White House has “no doubt” Iran seeks nukes. (Oh really?)
–US brushes aside UN statement about no proof of weapons program.
–Fox’s Brian Kilmeade openly advocates US support terrorism inside Iran.
–Poll says majority of Americans want to bomb Iran. I don’t believe this. My skyrocketing distrust of our government and media leads me to think this and other polls are manipulated to create a false reality, though I believe public opinion has shifted since Cheney ordered our “free” press to increase the war propaganda.
–Cheney remains usual self.
–Israeli PM and foreign minister push to discredit UN, IAEA, ElBaradei.
-Joint Chiefs head, Admiral Mullen, says we can do it.
–U.S. Airforce makes logistical preparations.
–UK deploys carrier to gulf.
–Rice: “Iran an Obstacle to U.S. goals”.
–British SAS soldiers enter Iran. (begging for an excuse)
–Christian Zionists attempt to bribe Iranian Jews into leaving.
–New sanctions threat from six world powers.
–Fox “news” pushes for war, the traitors.
–U.S. developing 30,000 lb bomb.
–Guliani team members advocate bombing Iran as soon as possible.
-Republican candidates rattle sabers before Republican Jewish Coalition.
–Some idiot on CNN says war has already begun.
-For my left-leaning friends: Clinton, Edwards, and Obama are all beating the war drum. (psst, vote Ron Paul!)
–Hilary talks of military strike.
–FEAR MONGERING and distortions continue on a massive scale.
–Media continues to censor anti-war voices, and ignore the Americans who’ve taken to the streets.

SEE ALSO:
Be afraid. . . be very, very, super-duper afraid of the menacing Iranian devil-monsters. (comedy)

Iran is NOT coming to get me

This brief (300-word) letter to the editor appeared in the Daily Iowa, October 16th 2007.

     In last week’s Republican presidential debate, all the candidates except for Ron Paul went on ad nauseam about the Islamo-fascist regime bent on destroying all of Western civilization.
     This would be quite an accomplishment for a nation whose national GDP is comparable to the state of Alabama’s.
     The sentiments are echoed by many prominent figures in the press who have propagated an inexcusable misquotation with frightening efficiency. Ahmadinejad never threatened to “wipe Israel off the map.”
     The war cheerleading smacks of the same duplicity that led to the invasion of Iraq. Even the supposedly liberal New York Times subsequently apologized for deliberately suppressing stories that questioned the invasion of Iraq.
     The Iranian threat is not nearly as dire as depicted. We have faced a nuclear Soviet Union and a nuclear North Korea. I agree with former CENTCOM commander General Abizaid: we can live with a nuclear Iran. Their regime is not suicidal.
     Military action against Iran, no matter how precise and limited, would certainly escalate, erase our modest gains in Iraq and Afghanistan, instantly jeopardize our soldiers overseas, destabilize Pakistan (who already has nukes), and cause terrorism against us to skyrocket.
     I doubt the sincerity of those making a hysterical case for war. James Madison warned us “the means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home.”
     If we are supposed to be so scared of terrorists that we start a third war in six years, that we accept concessions already made to our constitutional liberties, it seems like a no-brainer to do something about our completely porous borders.
     The fear-mongering is completely hypocritical so long as our borders are ignored. It’s analogous to a child on a playground, sticking out his chin. “Hit me, so I can have my war.”
     Enough is enough.

See it in the Daily Iowan. (I didn’t choose their title.)
250-word version published in Fayetteville Observer, Nov 5th, 2007.

Iran Watch

Good News
–European nations delay action on Iran.
–The Aussies will not play.
-Great video of Press Secretary Tony Snow evading question on Iran earlier this year. Expect those reporters to be replaced by the pro-war media.

Bad News
–John Bolton: Attack Iran, ‘remove’ its leader.
–Strange comments from the strange Council on Foreign Relations.

Other members include: Hillary and Bill Clinton, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Obama, George W Bush, George HW Bush, Alan Greenspan, Condoleezza Rice, Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, John McCain, Newt Gingrich, John Edwards. I don’t know what, precisely, the CFR stands for, but I’ve encountered much speculation, and I’m paying attention.

More News
-Longtime investigative journalist, Pulitzer prize winner, and American hero, Seymour Hersh, says Israel unhappy with US bombing plan for Iran. (no nuclear sites)
-Seymour Hersh reports administration gave up on “Iran wants to kill your children with nucuelar weapons,” because nobody bought it, so now they’re trying “we need to stop them from killing our troops.” (watch interview)

My News
I had emailed all my Congressional representatives about the Lieberman-Kyl Iran amendment, which is another rhetorical step rushed to the floor by Joe “Fear” Lieberman toward all-out war with Iran.

It passed. Only the following senators voted against it:
Biden(D-DE) Bingaman(D-NM) Boxer(D-CA) Brown(D-OH) Byrd(D-WV) Cantwell(D-WA) Dodd(D-CT) Feingold(D-WI) Hagel(R-NE) Harkin(D-IA) Inouye(D-HI) Kennedy(D-MA) Kerry(D-MA) Klobuchar(D-MN) Leahy(D-VT) Lincoln(D-AR) Lugar(R-IN) McCaskill(D-MO) Sanders(I-VT) Tester(D-MT) Webb(D-VA) Wyden(D-OR) Are you paying attention!?

Well, I got this completely non sequitur response for Senator Tom Harkin. My anger led me to call his office (202 224-3254) and demand to speak with him. I got as far as his secretary, who assured me an appropriate response will arrive by mail.

There is good news. It seems all the pressure (including mine!) forced them to change the harshest parts of the amendment.

Iran is not a threat to America, not a threat to me. The politicians and media cheer-leading these wars, however . . .

PREDICTION: Beware the time immediately after the primary elections. You heard it here first!

UPDATE: Senator Harkin sent me an appropriate reply. He emphasized the fact that he voted against Lieberman-Kyl .

Iran Watch

WAR!! WAR!! WAR!!
–Kurds Launch Clandestine war in northern Iran. (Mossad?)
–Cheney orders media to increase anti-Iran propaganda. And our “free” press obeys (again).
–Fox “News” analyst: Germany won’t sanction, so we must invade.
-Media and politicians continue to lie and lie and lie and lie.
-Administration continues to exaggerate role of Iranians in Iraq. (We are fighting Iraqis.)
–Britain’s Telegraph reports the escalation has begun.
–Jerusalem Post: US to attack in 8-10 months.
-The vote-for-me-I’m-against-the-war-Democrats give Bush everything he wants. “Last spring, Nancy Pelosi herself, after a call from the Israeli lobby, pulled an amendment that would have forced Bush to come to Congress for specific authorization before attacking Iran. Before the August recess, the Senate voted 97 to zero for a resolution sponsored by Joe Lieberman to censure Iran for complicity in the killing of U.S. soldiers in Iraq.”
–Chickenhawk Lieberman suggests to Petraeus he invade Iran.
–New Gingrich gives a ridiculous, sensational, fear-mongering speech about Iran.
–Pentagon plans base on Iranian border.
–France’s new president talks about bombing Iran. Watch France quietly vanish from the media’s hit list.

Peace:
–US Iran report branded “outrageous and dishonest” by UN.
–Jimmy Carter says Iran not a threat to Israel.
–Wesley Clark joins military veterans in lobbying to prevent a war with Iran.
–Former Cent Com Commander General Abizaid says world can live with nuclear Iran.
–IAEA director ElBaradei speaks out against war.
–French president distances himself from earlier remarks.
–Iran cooperates with IAEA, and the chicken hawks go back to the drawing board.
–The indy media remains vigilant. (The only free press we have.)
–Iran’s 30,000 Jews continue to live peacefully, and continue to be ignored by the fear mongers crying “Holocaust.”

Beating the War Drum to Iran

I’m hearing more and more about an attack into Iran. That last time things got this loud was in February/March 2007. Things quieted down for a while, but now they’re picking up. There’s speculation about an attack during the August congressional recess.

Indication of War:
–Chertoff’s Gut. There’s nothing like a terrorist attack to whip up public support. How much do we spend on the department of homeland security? And it’s a gut feeling? Like, gas? Evidence? No? Just a gut feeling. Maybe I should stock up on duct tape.
–Rice confirms Chertoff’s Gut. I’ve known privates who inspire more confidence than these people.
–Israel invasion gets thumbs up from US, EU, NATO, says Israel’s Minister of Strategic Affairs Avigdor Lieberman.
–Israeli general says time is running out.
-State Department issues travel advisory for Israel / Palestinian Territories.
-Joe “The Chicken-Hawk” Lieberman lays legal ground work for war with Iran.
–A column in Britain’s Guardian Unlimited.
–Another discussion.

Indications of Peace:
-Iran’s 30,000+ Jewish community rejects bribes to renounce their nation. Their long-standing peaceful existence, I think, stymies the warmongers.
–UN hails Iran nuclear agreement . . . and the warmongering, chicken-hawk, neo-cons, cry all the way back to the drawing board.
-Israel’s new U.K. envoy tells British Jews to put Iran on the agenda. I think (hope) this means they aren’t buying it.

My car battery died yesterday. My gut feeling is that Iran was behind it. Can we bomb them now? Pretty please?

Letter to the Editor — History Lessons

A letter to the editor about the looming controversy with Iran, printed in The Daily Iowan in April 2006. The editor was responsible for inserting all those awful commas.

History Lessons

A recent DI article (“Iraq in class,” March 22) discussed how various UI instructors are employing the war in Iraq as a teaching tool. This has a variety of benefits, including immediate relevance, but there is an even more relevant issue: the looming possibility of war with Iran.

While important decisions remain about our involvement in Iraq, the war itself is a done deal. The issue of Iran is more relevant, because the decision to wage war has not yet been made – at least that’s what I keep telling myself. It is a live issue, and, yet, few people and few, if any, instructors are engaging it.

Am I the only one wondering why the possibility of an even broader war in the Middle East hasn’t received more attention? Read More