Yesterday, Cheney and his minions used the UK Telegraph to warn Iran about the potential for an Israeli airstrike coming through Iraqi airspace. Today, the Pentagon responded in the Times of London.
SOME of America’s most senior military commanders are prepared to resign if the White House orders a military strike against Iran, according to highly placed defence and intelligence sources.
Tension in the Gulf region has raised fears that an attack on Iran is becoming increasingly likely before President George Bush leaves office. The Sunday Times has learnt that up to five generals and admirals are willing to resign rather than approve what they consider would be a reckless attack.
“There are four or five generals and admirals we know of who would resign if Bush ordered an attack on Iran,” a source with close ties to British intelligence said. “There is simply no stomach for it in the Pentagon, and a lot of people question whether such an attack would be effective or even possible.”
A British defence source confirmed that there were deep misgivings inside the Pentagon about a military strike. “All the generals are perfectly clear that they don’t have the military capacity to take Iran on in any meaningful fashion. Nobody wants to do it and it would be a matter of conscience for them.
“There are enough people who feel this would be an error of judgment too far for there to be resignations.”
A generals’ revolt on such a scale would be unprecedented. “American generals usually stay and fight until they get fired,” said a Pentagon source. Robert Gates, the defence secretary, has repeatedly warned against striking Iran and is believed to represent the view of his senior commanders.
The threat of a wave of resignations coincided with a warning by Vice-President Dick Cheney that all options, including military action, remained on the table.
One of the authors of this this piece is Michael Smith of Downing Street Minutes fame. It looks like this is a real leak from real malcontents. You might remember that I thought Robert Gates was the best nominee that we were going to get for Defense Secretary and that we shouldn’t waste our time opposing him. I thought his appointment was a defeat for the neo-conservatives and I didn’t want to screw it up by quibbling over his memory defense in the Iran-Contra affair. He wasn’t involved in Iran-Contra, he just knew about it and fudged his testimony over when he knew. Lying to Congress should preclude you from ever working in government again, but these are extraordinary times. And it looks like Gates has stood up to the Vice-President and, along with chairman of the Joint Chiefs Peter Pace, he has empowered reasonable army generals to feel they can speak up (at least privately).
It looks like we need to start reading the British papers each morning before we read our own. They are getting all the scoops and propaganda now.
FROM: LA Times and SF Chronicle
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2007/02/25/MNGGKOAR681.DTL&typ
e=politics
The version in the LA Times continues for two pages. Among the more interesting reminders are that Bush battled back at ElBaradei when he reported to the UN that the the Niger documents were forgeries.
It bothers me that the CIA is blamed for providing the bad intel, without going into the shadow groups set up by Cheney and Rumsfeld that went out to “fix the intelligence and facts…around the policy.”
Among other subjects brought up by the authors, Bob Drogin and Kim Murphy, is the subject of more arms flowing into Lebanon, just discussed, BTW, by Sy Hersh on Wolf Blitzer’s Situation Room.
Even if the generals and admirals resign, Bush and Cheney will simply find ones that will support it.
The aftermath of the surge plan should have displayed to all of us that this President simply won’t tolerate dissent from those he feels whose job description is “make my plans happen.”
In the end, Gates did nothing to stop the surge. In the end, he’ll go along with the bombing of Iran, even if it’s nuclear…this is why the generals are really talking resignation, they know that they have 3 choices now:
I have to applaud these men for facing this and taking the first option…but somebody in the Pentagon will eventually be found who is willing to risk choices 2 or 3.
But a resignation of top generals would be unprecedented. It’s not quite a mutiny, but it’s tantamount to it. Sure, Bush would eventually find generals who would follow the orders (and we should be glad of that–we don’t want the military to have a veto over civilian control). But Bush would lose even the paltry political support that he has. Impeachment would be weeks away.
…all a bunch of resignations will do is reinforce the “Hey, I’m right because I’m the decider!” worldview that exists at the top of BushCo.
It looks like we need to start reading the British papers each morning before we read our own. They are getting all the scoops and propaganda now.
Or listen to the BBC for news. Most of their content streams online these days, making it accessible far beyond the reach of the intended audience (unless, as in the case of the World Service, the intended audience is “everybody.”) Plus, they cover stories that the American press is too busy covering missing white girls to be able to bother with, especially if the story deals with Africa or parts of Asia where we aren’t shooting at people.
Handy dandy links:
BBC Radio main page
BBC World Service
BBC Radio Five — this channel seems to be more domestically oriented (yeah, big surprise) and has quite a bit of sport to it
BBC Radio Four — “Intelligent speech,” whatever that may entail
There are also other regional broadcasters (for Wales, Ulster, Scotland, and everywhere from Newcastle to Cornwall) that can be reached through the main page above. I will admit that I tend to stick primarily to the World Service with side trips to BBC 7 when they’re doing some of my old favourites (like the Goon Show, or dramatizations of Terry Pratchett novels). The World Service is an old comfortable habit, picked up in my youth when I got my first shortwave receiver, and I’ve been going to them for news for years.
Until Americans suffer war on their own territory, they will continue to turn to shallow entertainments. I think war is the ultimate wake-up call. That’s why the Europeans are so much more literate politically. They know the cost of ignorance far too well.
I read the London morning papers just before bed. I had this story in my blog posted last night.
Seriously. There’s a major constitutional crisis brewing over Iran. And if the people don’t speak up and make their voices heard, those who oppose this will feel we don’t have their back and may cave to Bush.