[Crossposted from DailyKos, ePluribus Media, and the TPM Cafe.]
The recent diary “They Want to Hit Iran” by jorndorff on DailyKos reiterates and forewarns of the impending expansion of hostilities by the US against the Middle East. Please read it.
This is ~not~ the first time we’ve heard warnings about the inevitability — in spite of the rhetoric to the contrary — of such a strike, nor is it the first time that the spectre of nuclear war has manifested in the form of a “precision tactical strike”. Jorndoff does an excellent job of explaining the internal “neo-justification” of the why & how such a plan could be considered viable by our criminally-inclined leadership. And for a great summation of just how “awry” this Administration has gone, and the underlying ideo-theology behind it, check out “Pentagon insider speaks: NeoCons LIED early and as often as possible.” by Yellow Canary.
Given the grave nature of the situation, and the quickly diminishing timeframe in which we can act to avert disaster, I’d like to briefly recap my take and suggestions. With any luck, we can interrupt this ongoing danse macabre before Iran’s dance card is punched.
After the “selection” of 2000 but before George W. Bush and the neoconservative cabal invaded the house at 1600, I was engaged in discussion with others who, like me, believed we were on an imminent course to invade Iran. After 9/11, watching the draconian measures that “just happened” to be ready to plop into place materialize and pass Congress under the guise of a “Patriot” Act, we were certain. I was walking through a bar during the Colin Powell address to the UN, and — when he spoke the line about Iraq attempting to get significant quantities of yellowcake — I stopped in my tracks. The look of complete surprise on my face as I turned to face the nearest television must have matched the looks I received from the patrons when I blurted out “He just lied!” I left quickly, but was not happy to realize that this Administration was willing to so completely lie and misdirect. I watched glumly as the propaganda machine went into full swing, stewing silently.
 (image found @http://www.transtopia.org) |
As time went on, I became more active online. I participated more in political discussions — something I’d formerly avoided, as I rarely found politicians or political activists who weren’t spinning a particular pet project. I felt that something was missing, and quickly met a few friends who felt similarly. We worked with a group of folks from all over the internet — and across several party lines — to begin to fight back against the propaganda. We helped to write the “Ten Characteristics of a True US Patriot” when the GOP started their smear campaign against those who spoke out for truth, justice, and our Constitutional rights. Although time and circumstance continued to pass, and the folks at USPatriotsUnited were forced into a temporary hiatus (they are now regrouping, and will resume their work by the end of the month), I saw little to no improvement in the way our national consciousness was shaping up. |
Then the leaks began.
The patriotic whistleblowers who began to step forward, some publicly and some anonymously, provided a few sharp sticks with which to poke our groggy nation into a heightened state of alert. A state not of fear — the neocons and theocrats were handling that — but of danger. The danger of letting our Constitutionally protected rights and freedoms slide inexorably into the mists of history.
We’ve watched as more and more scandals unfold. The realities of a culture of corruption and a coalescence of conspiracies — not tin-foil-hat quality, but genuinely prosecutable conspiracies — began to unfold. The leaks increased. And I predict that there will be more leaks, with more concrete evidence to further nail down the malfeasance of this administration, in the near future. The tightly-wound serpent that has enfolded our national leadership within its coils has begun to loosen its grip, and the nation is beginning to breath once again. But it’s not enough.
Bush and the neoconservatives are following an agenda. They’ve nearly accomplished it all, and they are hell-bent for leather in their push to complete it in their race against time. They’re winning, even as their house of cards begins to crumble. And the next item on the agenda is the strike against Iran.
In my February 19 entry called WARNING: Failsafe disengaged, I cautioned
We cannot permit these affronts to our nation, to our constitution, to our citizens and to the world to continue.
Bush is guided – sometimes kicking and screaming – by Cheney, Rove and other members of the NeoCon/PNAC/RRR cabal. But remember – Cheney has his finger on the button by proxy. And he just got away with shooting a 78 year old lawyer.
For his next trick, he’s going to nuke a small Middle Eastern country. This is our chance; this is our warning.
Do we heed it, or watch as our nation yet again engages in a heinous crime on the world stage, spreading the dangerous cancer that has already crippled our domestic policies and national health?
I wasn’t practicing snark or seeking to be a Cassandra. I am well and truly convinced that we are in dire circumstance — second only to Iran, sitting in the extremely unenviable crosshairs of an Administration that is itching to pull the nuclear trigger.
I’d published a warning about trusting this Administration, and interrupting their goals of conquest, in the diary entitled On the importance of being earnest…, but it was relatively quick on the scrollby. I cited quite a few references for it, all of which should still be good. There are soooo many more items that can be listed as examples, too. Here’s the main nub of the gist:
Do we now stand by, and heed not the clarion calls that denote the dangers of allowing these international law breakers and war criminals to launch their next attack, emboldened by their artful dodging of accountability and responsibility, even in the face of their own inept failure to plan for and secure the peace? Is it not, at this moment in time, inherently obvious that a plan to secure such a peace is not now, nor was it ever, intended?
Let us not stand idly by and permit this opportunity in the history of our nation, and indeed the world, pass us unanswered. We must stand and oppose, on all counts, the ongoing attempts at escalation of hostilities into any new theater, for any reason, while the shadows of deception wield the reins in our nation’s halls of power.
We must act now to prevent any further deception that could be used to attempt to justify further engagement in acts of war – and cowardice – that only serve to weaken our nation, divide our people, cripple our defenses, and spread chaos in the world through ill-conceived acts of might that flagrantly abuse those principles that we hold dear.
We are being drawn inexorably toward a precipice that we dare not fall into.
We have evidence of intentional deception, malfeasance, high crimes and misdemeanors on a scale never before conceived or measured in a nation founded upon ideals of freedom and justice for all. We have seen the taint and corruption that supports this cancer, spreading through all our institutions and eroding our national spirit as well as our founding tenets – our strength, and our soul, as a nation.
We have compiled evidence that not only comprises the heart of a criminal conspiracy but also the artful implementation of unitary incompetence.
For added emphasis, I included a quote of particular significance — Bush’s own words from the runup to the invasion of Iraq:
Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof — the smoking gun — that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud.
I thought to myself, my, what a clever bird, to quote back the words that $1.6 billion (with a “B”) of propaganda funding helped pay for. Now, however, I repeat those words in this quote, haunted by the promise of self-fulfilling horror that they hold. If we have learned but a single thing from watching this charade of leadership over the past six years, is the use of projection of their own criminal actions against their preselected targets in blatant confabulation not one of their most favorite tools?
All this leads me to repeat what I urged in my past Recommended diary entitled “Congress Must Revoke the 9/11 War Powers Authorization NOW (with Poll)” — the Authorization to Use Military Force has got to be yanked. It’s the lynchpin to this headlong plunge down the tracks toward a deadman’s curve, with the only the reality of a derailment at the bottom. To quote the opening of that diary:
The time has come for Congress to suspend the 9/11 War Powers Authorization and retain the right to completely revoke it, pending a much-needed and long-overdue review of the performance of the Executive Branch in light of the many duplicitous statements as well as illegal actions. The mad grab for power must be slapped on the wrist, now, and a restraint imposed that removes one of the current convenient excuses for the abusive over-reach.
The likelihood of accomplishing such an objective in light of the current Republican-led Congress notwithstanding, all Congressfolk must propose and pass a suspension of the 9/11 War Powers Authorization. If the Republican majority denies the suspension, it must be forced to do so on a vote that records their names.
Get the recommendation on the table. Call for accountability, and take names.
These names are the equivalent of “put up or shut up” — where do folks in Congress stand now, and what are they willing to put their names to? Do they well and truly support the nation, and intend to do their jobs? Can they now step forward and begin to insist & ensure that they will, through their own names, be accountable for reinstating the oversight functions that have long been sidestepped in a danse macabre that we can no longer tolerate?
Or will the band play on?