John Pilger: Iran: The War Begins -- Must read.

[Emillereid]

http://www.ichblog.eu/content/view/300/2/

As opposition grows in America to the failed Iraq adventure, the Bush administration is preparing public opinion for an attack on Iran, its latest target, by the spring.
01/03/07 "ICHBlog" -- -- The United States is planning what will be a catastrophic attack on Iran. For the Bush cabal, the attack will be a way of "buying time" for its dis aster in Iraq. In announcing what he called a "surge" of American troops in Iraq, George W Bush identified Iran as his real target. "We will interrupt the flow of support from Iran and Syria," he said. "And we will seek out and destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq."

"Networks" means Iran. "There is solid evidence," said a State Department spokesman on 24 January, "that Iranian agents are involved in these networks and that they are working with individuals and groups in Iraq and are being sent there by the Iranian government." Like Bush's and Tony Blair's claim that they had irrefutable evidence that Saddam Hussein was deploying weapons of mass destruction, the "evidence" lacks all credibility. Iran has a natural affinity with the Shia majority of Iraq, and has been implacably opposed to al-Qaeda, condemning the 9/11 attacks and supporting the United States in Afghanistan. Syria has done the same. Investigations by the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and others, including British military officials, have concluded that Iran is not engaged in the cross-border supply of weapons. General Peter Pace, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said no such evidence exists.

As the American disaster in Iraq deepens and domestic and foreign opposition grows, "neo-con" fanatics such as Vice-President Dick Che- ney believe their opportunity to control Iran's oil will pass unless they act no later than the spring. For public consumption, there are potent myths. In concert with Israel and Washington's Zionist and fundamentalist Christian lobbies, the Bushites say their "strategy" is to end Iran's nuclear threat.

In fact, Iran possesses not a single nuclear weapon, nor has it ever threatened to build one; the CIA estimates that, even given the political will, Iran is incapable of building a nuclear weapon before 2017, at the earliest. Unlike Israel and the United States, Iran has abided by the rules of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, of which it was an original signatory, and has allowed routine inspections under its legal obligations - until gratuitous, punitive measures were added in 2003, at the behest of Washington. No report by the International Atomic Energy Agency has ever cited Iran for diverting its civilian nuclear programme to military use...more at link...

http://www.ichblog.eu/content/view/300/2/

[CrazyOrangeCat]

1. K&R

[2008]

2. k & r (nt)

[ms liberty]

3. I feel as if I was restrained in a car, speeding straight towards a cliff..

I can't free my bonds, I can't get out, and I can't stop the car... and the idiot who's driving is laughing maniacally, repeating "I'm the decider..."

K&R

[Doctor_J]

6. It could be worse. You could live in Tehran

Imagine being an Rianian citizen, knowing that a madman was going to destroy your country, kill hundreds of thousands of your friends and neighbors, and no one would stop him.

[AndyTiedye]

4. IMPEACH THE WARPED RESIDENTS BEFORE THEY ATTACK ANOTHER COUNTRY

We can't wait until 2008!

[Morgana LaFey]

5. K&R -- but I do wish this had been posted in one of the busier forums

where EVERYONE could see it.

[Joanne98]

7. I posted this earlier in GD but it didn't take off...........

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x116980

It's a great article. I guess I should have put the authors name in the title.

[JohnyCanuck]

9. I just K&R'd it in GD for you n/t

[freedomfries]

8. K & R

[Matilda]

10. K & R

I love John Pilger - he always has his facts straight, and doesn't
mince words.

Is the world too tired to protest? Bush isn't even bothering to rewrite
the Iraq script except for changing a few words here and there for a
different country.

This Administration is totally obscene.

[yurbud]

11. and even if Iran had nuclear weapons, they know it would be suicidal to use them on us

[Doctor_J]

12. Exactly. But they don't. There's only one person who's anxious to start WWIII

we'll see if there is anything to salvage of our democracy by whether or not we can stop him.

[Ghost Dog]

13. John Pilger is very experienced, does his own research and says what he thinks he sees.

Kicked and highly recommended.

[Emillereid]

14. Kick

[Judi Lynn]

15. Sad to know the author indicates he wrote virtually the same article in early 2003,

focusing on Iraq, instead, when there were more than 650,000 still living who are gone now.

Thanks for posting this article. Hope it will be well read before the week has passed.

[oblivious]

16. I believe paragraph 4 is wrong or a bit misleading.

Unlike Israel and the United States, Iran has abided by the rules of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, of which it was an original signatory, and has allowed routine inspections under its legal obligations - until gratuitous, punitive measures were added in 2003, at the behest of Washington."

Pilger implies that Iran stopped allowing routine inspections when punitive measures were added in 2003. As I understand it, exactly the opposite is the case. Iran began complete compliance in 2003 to rebuild confidence after it revealed some secret work had been done earlier. In 2003 it even signed the additional protocol voluntarily stopping uranium enrichment. It was not something that was forced upon Iran. It voluntarily signed the additional protocol and allowed stepped up inspections starting in 2003.

[katty]

17. once again, Pilger is spot on