"As reports circulate of a sharp debate within the White House over possible US military action against Iran and its nuclear enrichment facilities, The Nation has learned that the Bush Administration and the Pentagon have moved up the deployment of a major "strike group" of ships, including the nuclear aircraft carrier Eisenhower as well as a cruiser, destroyer, frigate, submarine escort and supply ship, to head for the Persian Gulf, just off Iran's western coast.meanwhile, larisa:
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According to Lieut. Mike Kafka, a spokesman at the headquarters of the Second Fleet, based in Norfolk, Virginia, the Eisenhower Strike Group, bristling with Tomahawk cruise missiles, has received orders to depart the United States in a little over a week. Other official sources in the public affairs office of the Navy Department at the Pentagon confirm that this powerful armada is scheduled to arrive off the coast of Iran on or around October 21.
The Eisenhower had been in port at the Naval Station Norfolk for several years for refurbishing and refueling of its nuclear reactor; it had not been scheduled to depart for a new duty station until at least a month later, and possibly not till next spring.
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Colonel Gardiner, who has taught military strategy at the National War College, says that the carrier deployment and a scheduled Persian Gulf arrival date of October 21 is "very important evidence" of war planning.
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Representative Maurice Hinchey, a leading Democratic critic of the Iraq War, informed about the Navy PTDOs and about the orders for the full Eisenhower Strike Group to head out to sea, said, "For some time there has been speculation that there could be an attack on Iran prior to November 7, in order to exacerbate the culture of fear that the Administration has cultivated now for over five or six years."
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McGovern...warned, "We have about seven weeks to try and stop this next war from happening.""
"The senior intelligence official who spoke to RAW STORY, along with several military intelligence sources, confirmed that the nuclear option remains on the table. In addition, the senior official added that the Joint Chiefs have "come around on to the administration's thinking."
I wish I could believe that this isn't happening.
12 comments:
I've been in this much shock about war with Iran since January, and wrote in my MSN group that I knew Dubya wouldn't be able to resist nuking them (and that if/when that happens we're all done). In the back of my mind, I feverishly wished and prayed that I was wrong, or something would happen to change their minds. There's sure no pleasure in being right or telling anybody "I told you so" about this one.
"There's sure no pleasure in being right or telling anybody "I told you so" about this one."
none whatsoever.
apparently giraldi is sayign that the order has been given.
The relative silence of the mainstream press tends to make me think he's right. I've had no doubt all year, just a matter of when.
i agree with yuo that the reporting has been weird - although there was that odd report by sam gardiner last week that Bush was advised to keep the attack 'below the cnn level of awareness'
it's all very weird
so Scott Ritter was right a few years back? lovely...he said it would be in june 2005 but hey.
Bush was advised to keep the attack 'below the cnn level of awareness'
unbe-fucking-lievable.
quote (and i think this has been updated for the current scenario):
COL. SAM GARDINER: Well, the evidence is beginning to accumulate that a decision has already been made to use military force in Iran. Now, let me do a historical thing, and then I'll tell you what the current evidence is. We now know that the decision and the actual actions to bomb Iraq occurred in July of 2002, before we ever had a U.N. resolution or before the Congress ever authorized it. It was an operation called Southern Focus, and the only guidance that the military -- or the guidance that the military had from Rumsfeld was keep it below the CNN line. His specific words. The evidence that we've already --
AMY GOODMAN: Keep it below what?
COL. SAM GARDINER: The CNN line. In other words, I don't want this to appear on CNN, okay? That was his guidance to the military, you can begin to bomb Iraq, but don't let it appear on CNN. You're catching your breath.
AMY GOODMAN: Yeah.
COL. SAM GARDINER: I think the same thing has happened, and the evidence -- let me give you two or three evidences. First of all, the Iranians in their press have been writing now for almost a year that the United States is involved inside Iran conducting and supporting those who conduct military operations, attacks on military convoys. They've even accused the United States of shooting down a couple airplanes inside Iran. Okay, so there's that evidence from their side.
Below the CNN level of awareness. At the beginning of the year I told people Bush/Cheney no longer felt they needed the country's support to start a new war. It was an educated guess, based on the extent of prewar planning for Iran. I hoped people would argue--nobody did. I hoped I was wrong--I wasn't. Three quarters of Americans oppose the Iraq war. My town is almost all republicans, and two years ago you saw Dubya campaign stickers on half the cars in town. I don't see any now, and all I can say is wow, I don't believe that. No America-love-it-or-leave-it stickers, either. That isn't a problem for them? Some strategy: keeps the lambs calm as they're led off to slaughter.
uranus - the sticker metric is a great one. we shold take sticker-polls across the country
This is an affluent bedroom community, fairly evenly divided between people who are wealthy enough to benefit from the GOP agenda and those who are too stupid to know better. I'd say most aren't news-conscious, yet they're fed up, and very afraid. And mad. By analogy, they're like cornered wild animals being poked with a pointed stick.
Uranus: " . . . This is an affluent bedroom community . . . they're fed up, and very afraid. And mad."
That's very interesting. Here in the birthplace of Microsoft, many of these conditions exist. Across Lake Washington, Seattle is the most liberal, Democratic stronghold in the entire state, so I never know how to assess the demographics. I live in the 8th Congressional district that has been held for way too many years by DeLay/Cheney-annointed Republicans. By contrast, in 2000, this district went for Al Gore by a margin of 10,000 votes (I don't know what the percentage is, but 10,000 votes ain't bad.) In 2004, we went for John Kerry, yet still voted for a Republican to represent the district. Dave Reichert's claim to fame was as King County Sheriff. He presided over the long investigation and eventual arrest of the Green River serial killer. IMNHO, he should have never given up his job as sheriff. He did fine at that and appeared to have community respect; in Congress, he is just another toady for the bu$histas, accepting money from DeLay even before he was elected, and dutifully voting their way ever since with very few exceptions. Go, Darcy Burner!! But I digress . . .
What I started to say here is that in nearly every foray out into 'meatspace' over the past six years, I have come across only one individual who spoke well of this criminal regime - he was defending the manipulated gas prices after Katrina as he gassed up his huge SUV. Strangers encountered in grocery stores, at the gas pump, the post office, restaurants, just normal movement around the neighborhood has revealed no end of fury and disbelief with the assaults perpetrated by this mal-administration, and as much as can be learned from brief exchanges, they seemed to possess an understanding of the causes. I have no idea how many of these people have always been on board with this view of these imperialists, but if there are enough of them now who are motivated to turn out in numbers sufficient to defeat the rover's election rigging scams, we might have a chance.
Of course, that doesn't speak to the issue of nuking or otherwise bombing Iran, whether before the election or after. More and more, it seems if it is to be avoided, we have to rely on the military to develop some spine and willingness to honor their oath to protect and defend the constitution from the enemies within this country. Outraged demonstrations in the street after the fact will be good for venting, but not much else. I don't have much hope for demonstrations having any affect on these criminals; in 2003 millions of us were dismissed as being just a "focus group." Now, of course, bu$h is even less concerned in public support for his ideas.
Oh, before I forget entirely, the sticker thingie is here too . . . I haven't seen a bu$h/Cheney bumper sticker in over a year, but the Kerry/Edwards stickers remain, including on my car, which has been joined now with one Al Gore sent me a couple of months ago that says, "Had Enough? Vote Dem 06"
I have one that says "will somebody please give Bush a blowjob so we can impeach him," but I chickened out and stuck it on the refrigerator. That was then--I could probably put it on my vehicle now, but it's too late.
i'd give him that damn blowjob but after posting it twice on my site and Lukery posting it here (i think), nobody in gov't got back to me.
i'm disappointed, to say the very least. i mean, i didn't even say he must have a good wash before.
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