War plans? Is an attack on Iran imminent?

By Dave Lindorff, The Nation

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. This information follows a report in the current issue of Time magazine, both online and in print, that a group of ships capable of mining harbors has received orders to be ready to sail for the Persian Gulf by October 1.

As Time writes in its cover story, "What Would War Look Like?," evidence of the forward deployment of minesweepers and word that the chief of naval operations had asked for a reworking of old plans for mining Iranian harbors "suggest that a much discussed--but until now largely theoretical--prospect has become real: that the U.S. may be preparing for war with Iran."

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. Family members, before the orders, had moved into the area and had until then expected to be with their sailor-spouses and parents in Virginia for some time yet. First word of the early dispatch of the "Ike Strike" group to the Persian Gulf region came from several angry officers on the ships involved, who contacted antiwar critics like retired Air Force Col. Sam Gardiner and complained that they were being sent to attack Iran without any order from the Congress.

"This is very serious," said Ray McGovern, a former CIA threat-assessment analyst who got early word of the Navy officers' complaints about the sudden deployment orders. (McGovern, a twenty-seven-year veteran of the CIA, resigned in 2002 in protest over what he said were Bush Administration pressures to exaggerate the threat posed by Iraq. He and other intelligence agency critics have formed a group called Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity.)

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War in Iraq worsens terror, period.

An enlightening and well written article by Mark Mazzetti of The New York Times, which talks about how the war in Iraq has most definitely worsened the terror threat, Mazzetti writes:

"The classified National Intelligence Estimate attributes a more direct role to the Iraq war in fueling radicalism than that presented either in recent White House documents or in a report released Wednesday by the House Intelligence Committee, according to several officials in Washington involved in preparing the assessment or who have read the final document." - NY Times

Many people have been agreeing about the fact that terror is worse as a direct result of the "War on Terror" - it's like taking a small wound and contining to irritate and scratch it. It's going to get worse.

"The report “says that the Iraq war has made the overall terrorism problem worse,” said one American intelligence official." - NY Times

In an article, "The Phony War" by Robert Dreyfuss of Rolling Stone magazine, Dreyfuss brings up 5 main points about the "War on Terror" and what is wrong with it. In his third point of his article, "The Threat Has Gone Viral", he writes:

"By failing to "smoke out" bin Laden as promised, the president has given hope to a new generation of freelance terrorist cells, Islamist copycats and Al Qaeda wanna-be's. "We let them get away," says a retired CIA station chief. "We took a relatively centralized organization and turned it into a generalized virus. Before Afghanistan, we were facing somewhat of a unified threat. We now have the equivalent of a phantom that we're fighting."

The National Intelligence Council agrees: "The [National Intelligence Estimate] concludes that the radical Islamic movement has expanded from a core of Qaeda operatives and affiliated groups to include a new class of 'self-generating' cells." - NY Times

The war in Iraq has ultimately made the terrorism worse in many aspects. The terror net is now larger than ever and has spawned radicalist groups who have anger fueled by the Bush Administration's war and imperial ambitions.

The New York Times via Impolitical (Thanks!)

$70 billion more for Iraq/Afghanistan

Congress approved another $70 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan -- which should last til spring:

"House-Senate negotiators Thursday approved a new $70 billion infusion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan as they wrapped up talks on a $447 billion Pentagon funding bill.

The additional war funds would bring the total approved by Congress for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since Sept. 11, 2001, to more than $500 billion, with another installment likely to come next spring."

But those funds probably don't take in to account the deteriorating situation in both countries. There will not be a reduction in U.S. forces in Iraq and NATO is beggging for more resources in Afghanistan.

Congress allocates this money because there are U.S. soldiers in harms way and they want to show support for the troops. Unfortunately, that means giving Bush a blank check when he has no plan in either country. He's too busy politicking about terror to deal with the real terror threats. Bush shows the ultimate disrepect for American soldiers by keeping them in war zones without an end game in sight.

Reuters does a daily update on the realities of what's happening on the ground in Iraq. Might help if someone at the White House took a peek at these updates every now and then:

Military and Civilian deaths and Security Developments in Iraq*

According to current estimates, the cost of the Iraq War could exceed $700 billion. In current dollars, the Vietnam War cost U.S. taxpayers $600 billion. The bill also provides for a 2.2 percent pay increase for the military as President Bush requested in his February budget. Via Yahoo News

*Via AmericaBlog

U.N. expert: Iraq torture may be worse

Torture in Iraq may be worse now than it was under Saddam Hussein, with militias, terrorist groups and government forces disregarding rules on the humane treatment of prisoners, the U.N. anti-torture chief said Thursday.

Manfred Nowak, the U.N. special investigator on torture, made the remarks as he was presenting a report on detainee conditions at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay as well as to brief the U.N. Human Rights Council, the global body's top rights watchdog, on torture worldwide.

Reports from Iraq indicate that torture "is totally out of hand," he said. "The situation is so bad many people say it is worse than it has been in the times of Saddam Hussein." Full article.

And it's only going to get worse.

Bush Assassinated In 'Death Of a President'

Death of a President' directed by Gabriel Range, is a new film depicting President Bush's assasination and what follows after. The Toronto Festival jury has praised the film "for the audacity with which it distorts reality, to reveal a larger truth", and it was also given a prestegious award. Range said the film had recently signed a US distribution deal. The assasination scene was created by putting the President's face onto an actor with digital wizardry, shows him being gunned down just hours after driving past an anti-war demonstration while doing a talk in Chicago 2007.


The Republican Party in Texas has said 'Death of a President' is "shocking" and "disturbing" that a TV drama is to depict the assassination of US President Bush. A White House spokesman said of the programme: "We are not going to comment because it does not dignify a response." OF course the White House does see the significance of the film, just doesnt want people to know. Maybe they'll stop lying to us for a while? Or not.

CCTV now with loudspeakers

This is unbelievable - Britain’s first ‘talking’ CCTV cameras have arrived, well, CCTV cameras with loudspeakers next to them. The system allows control room operators who spot any illegal behavior to send out a verbal warning to the offender. Middlesbrough has fitted loudspeakers on seven of its 158 cameras in an experiment already being hailed as a success.

Middlesbrough has fitted loudspeakers on seven of its 158 cameras in an experiment already being hailed as a success.

Control room operators say phrases such as: 'Warning - you are being monitored by CCTV - Warning - you are in an alcohol-free zone, please refrain from drinking'; and Warning - your behaviour is being monitored by CCTV. It is being recorded and the police are attending.'

'It would appear that the offenders are the only ones who find the audio cameras intrusive. The vast majority of people welcome these cameras. 'Put it this way, we never have requests to remove them.' People are comfortable with this? Also, unbelievable. People submit to this like sheep and this is extremely unhealthy for people in this town to not be debating and questioning this.

“Orwell’s 1984 was a dire warning to ward off the totalitarianism of public monitoring authorities. This camera/speaker system is not ‘like’ Big Brother, it ‘is’ Big Brother incarnate,” says one American from Boston. A dire warning indeed. More via Ministry of Tech

U.S. holds AP photographer 5 mos, no charges

The U.S. military in Iraq has imprisoned an Associated Press photographer, Bilal Hussein, for five months, accusing him of being a security threat but never filing charges or permitting a public hearing.

Military officials said Bilal Hussein, an Iraqi citizen, was being held for "imperative reasons of security" under United Nations resolutions. AP executives said the news cooperative's review of Hussein's work did not find anything to indicate inappropriate contact with insurgents, and any evidence against him should be brought to the Iraqi criminal justice system.

"The vast majority of the 420 images show the aftermath or the results of the conflict — blown up houses, wounded people, dead people, street scenes."

He won a Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photography last year. With this in mind, we see that he is photgraphing scenes in Iraq that are potentially bad for the Bush Administrations's image. From this we can conclude why he has been held for so long but never charged with a crime.

The 'American Way'

"The USA wouldn't be stuck in conflicts abroad if only we could stop believing that the American way is the best way." Exactly. In his recent article for AlterNet John Dolan couldn't be more right.

Excerpt from the article:
Montaigne tried to learn from the other cultures Europe was encountering around the world in the 1500s, rather than simply condemning them for all the ways in which they differed from Europe. He compared the cruelties of cannibal tribes with those of European "justice." His point was not that one culture was superior to the other, but that every human ever born finds it dangerously easy to revile the savagery of other tribes, but very difficult to see the brutalities of their homeland: "...while we quite rightly judge [the cannibals'] faults, we are blind to our own."

It is this nationalist psyche the majority of Americans have, that are sheltered from the rest of the world and brings conflict and irritation to other cultures. As Dolan states, "even if the [Iraq] war really was about liberation, it was an arrogant invasion born of the ancient belief that our tribe is the only one that knows how life should be lived." Precisely.

Read the full article.

How Republicans Hype Fear to Keep 1-Party Rule

In a series of columns and essays that renowned journalist and former presidential adviser Sidney Blumenthal wrote in the three years following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, a unifying theme began to emerge: that Bush, billed by himself and by many others as a conservative, is in fact a radical--more radical than any president in American history. In "How Bush Rules: Chronicles of a Radical Regime", Blumenthal provides a vivid account of the progression of Bush's radical style--from his reliance on one-party rule and his unwillingness to allow internal debate to his elevation of the power of the vice president.

Taking readers through pivotal events such as the hunt for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and the rise of the foreign-policy neoconservatives. Foreign policy is one of Bush's key areas that he needs to succeed in his power struggle. However, people are catching on now, coming together and realizing to propaganda and lies that the american public is being subject to. Bush is trying to change the Geneva Conventions and the way we go to war - Department of Defense, more like "Department of Offense" these days.

"From the experience of the Bush disinformation campaign used to justify the invasion of Iraq the congressional Republicans have apparently learned that they must advance disinformation campaigns even more aggressively than before. What the Republicans have to fear is the absence of fear itself." Read the rest of Sidney Blumenthal's post at The Huffington Post.

Europe may meet with Iran without U.S.

European diplomats are considering a meeting with Iran on the sidelines of next week's U.N. General Assembly in hopes of de-escalating the standoff over Tehran's nuclear program - but the United States won't be getting an invitation.

I think this a very good approach to handling the situation because bringing the U.S. face to face with Iran at this point in time may cause even more tension and resulting frustration. The U.S. is accusing Iran of all these things there is no proof of, and the Bush Administration continues to pour fearful thoughts all over the public.

People need to realize here what the U.S. government is doing, like making dishonest statements about Iran, and trying to get the American public hyped up about a threat that does not exist and even if it does exis, there is no solid evidence to go on. There is a pattern here going back to the Bush Admin's pre-war Iraq ideas and agenda.

The Bush administration, which is pushing for U.N. sanctions against Iran, has said it will join European-led negotiations with Iran only if it stops its uranium enrichment work first.

Full article via Washington Post

The U.S. vs. John Lennon

'The U.S. vs. John Lennon is a new documentary on the life of John Lennon, with a focus on the time in his life when he transformed from a world class musician into an world class anti-war activist.

Check out The Nation's review of "The U.S. vs. John Lennon"

IAEA says U.S. report on Iran is 'dishonest'

A recent House of Representatives committee report on Iran's nuclear capability is "outrageous and dishonest" in trying to make a case that Tehran's program is geared toward making weapons, a senior official of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), has said.

Not surprising since the Bush administration has been dishonest on more than one occasion during the Iran situation.

The letter, obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday outside a 35-nation board meeting of the IAEA, says the report is false in saying Iran is making weapons-grade uranium at an experimental enrichment site, when it has in fact produced material only in small quantities that is far below the level that can be used in nuclear arms. Via Yahoo News