Provoking War With Iran

April 7, 2007

JOE MILLER

Launching World War III

An article (1) appeared in the British Guardian newspaper today indicating that "the US offered to take military action on behalf of the 15 British sailors and marines held by Iran, including buzzing Iranian Revolutionary Guard positions with warplanes." Can there be any doubt that Bush, Cheney, and their neocon advisers are doing their best to provoke a response to justify attacking Iran? Fortunately, Britain wisely declined the offer, and pursued a less confrontational, more diplomatic strategy.

Americans Offered 'Aggressive Patrols' in Iranian Airspace
MacAskill, Borger Howard & Hooper, Guardian/UK, 4/7/07
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/04/07/362/

The same article (1) also indicates that Britain asked the US to reduce the military maneuvers of its two aircraft carrier battle groups in the Persian Gulf. CNN (2) reported on March 27 that four days after the Iranian Revolutionary Guard captured the 15 British sailors and marines, the US initiated simulated war games and aerial attacks in the Gulf involving 15 warships and more than a 100 planes from the two aircraft carrier strike groups. CNN notes that the military maneuvers were "the largest demonstration of force in the Gulf since the 2003 invasion of Iraq." More provocation. To make matters even worse, Tom Engelhardt reports in an April 6 article (3) that just this week the USS Nimitz carrier battle group left San Diego to join the other two strike groups (the USS John C. Stennis and USS Dwight D. Eisenhower) in the Gulf.

U.S. Show of Force in Persian Gulf
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/03/27/us.gulf.ap/index.html?eref=rss_latest
The President's Global War of Terror
Tom Engelhardt, The Nation, 4/6/07
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/04/06/346/

And there's more. Tom Englehardt (3) summarizes a report first aired by Brian Ross of ABC News on April 3, to the effect that "since 2005, the U.S. has 'encouraged and advised' Jundullah, a Pakistani tribal 'militant group,' led by a former Taliban fighter and 'drug smuggler,' which has been launching guerrilla raids into Baluchi areas of Iran. These incursions involve kidnappings and terror bombings, as well as the murder (recorded on video) of Iranian prisoners. According to Ross, .U.S. officials say the U.S. relationship with Jundullah is arranged so that the U.S. provides no funding to the group, which would require an official presidential order or 'finding' as well as congressional oversight.. "

I'll stop. Noam Chomsky (4) quotes British military historian Corelli Barnett as warning that "an attack on Iran would effectively launch World War III." Robert Parry (5) powerfully describes the hypocrisy of Bush's actions, and how this hypocrisy is amplified and repeated in the mainstream media, undermining both our democracy and welfare.

What If Iran Had Invaded Mexico?
Noam Chomsky, TomDispatch, 4/6/07
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/04/06/what_if_iran_had_invaded_mexico.php
Bush, Iran & Selective Outrage
Robert Parry, Consortiumnews.com, 4/2/07
http://consortiumnews.com/2007/040107.html

Why are Bush, Cheney and the Neocons intent upon, and doing their best to create "justifications" for an attack upon, war with, Iran? Reports by the CIA and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) indicate that there is no conclusive evidence that Iran is building a nuclear bomb (6). The National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) published two years ago forecast that Iran was 10 years from reaching "nuclear weapons capability," although that was later recast as "early-to-mid-next decade" (7; see also 8).

UN Calls US Data on Iran's Nuclear Aims Unreliable
Bob Drogin & Kim Murphy, Los Angeles Times, 2/25/07
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0225-04.htm
There's Still Time to Rethink Iran
Ray McGovern, Information Clearing House, 3/10/07
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17279.htm
A Constructive EU-US Approach to the Iran Nuclear Dispute
Friends Committee on National Legislation, 1/10/07
http://www.fcnl.org/issues/item.php?item_id=1653&issue_id=2

Impeachable Offenses

Why are we unable to act before we and others succumb to complete disaster? The list of impeachable offenses committed by Bush and Cheney is long and growing. Grassroots (9, 10), state legislative (11, 12), and congressional initiatives (13) for the House of Representatives to convene impeachment investigations urgently need our support. My previous posts (14) contain many other links on the growing movement to impeachment, as well as information on, and actions to resist, the Bush-Cheney march to an attack on, war with, Iran.

Joseph Miller
Department of Psychology
51 Madeleva
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN 46556

St. Joe Valley Greens, South Bend, IN

SJVGreens