Update [2007-7-16 16:5:54 by Steven D]: Corrections to this story have been made as indicated below by the text that has been stricken out and new text added, to make clear that UN inspectors have not been allowed back into Iran, they’ve been there all along. Thanks to hass in the comments for pointing out my errors.
Iran has permitted UN nuclear inspectors back into the country to inspect its nuclear facilities, including its heavy water reactor at Arak, in addition to the UN’s ongoing inspection of the uranium enrichment facility at Natanz and other Iranian nuclear sites.
Furthermore, the unfounded claim that Iran was behind the kidnapping and brutal slaying of five Americans, a story the Pentagon pushed as hard as it could, has proven to be completely false. And a recent study shows that most of the “foreign fighters” in Iraq come from Saudi Arabia, our purported ally in the War on Terror, with few, if any, coming from Iran.
No matter. Vice President Darth Cheney has the ear of the Decider-in-chief once again, so all options are back on the table, including the option to unleash hell on Iran: (hat tip to Raw Story)
The balance in the internal White House debate over Iran has shifted back in favour of military action before President George Bush leaves office in 18 months, the Guardian has learned.
The shift follows an internal review involving the White House, the Pentagon and the state department over the last month. Although the Bush administration is in deep trouble over Iraq, it remains focused on Iran. A well-placed source in Washington said: “Bush is not going to leave office with Iran still in limbo.”
What a surprise, eh? So much for the supposed calmer, more rational approach focused on diplomacy allegedly advocated by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. When push comes to shove, it seems Bush prefers his follow his gut, and we all know the identity of the intestinal parasite residing in that foul place:
The vice-president, Dick Cheney, has long favoured upping the threat of military action against Iran. He is being resisted by the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, and the defence secretary, Robert Gates. […]
Last year Mr Bush came down in favour of Ms Rice, who along with Britain, France and Germany has been putting a diplomatic squeeze on Iran. But at a meeting of the White House, Pentagon and state department last month, Mr Cheney expressed frustration at the lack of progress and Mr Bush sided with him. “The balance has tilted. There is cause for concern,” the source said this week. […]
“Cheney has limited capital left, but if he wanted to use all his capital on this one issue, he could still have an impact,” said Patrick Cronin, the director of studies at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
The Washington source said Mr Bush and Mr Cheney did not trust any potential successors in the White House, Republican or Democratic, to deal with Iran decisively. They are also reluctant for Israel to carry out any strikes because the US would get the blame in the region anyway.
“The red line is not in Iran. The red line is in Israel. If Israel is adamant it will attack, the US will have to take decisive action,” Mr Cronin said. “The choices are: tell Israel no, let Israel do the job, or do the job yourself.”
Well, God forbid we just tell Israel no. It seems as if Cheney has convinced Bush that we must attack Iran because
a) No future President will have Bush’s guts;
b) Israel wants to do it if we don’t; and
c) We just can’t say no to more war.
Unless I missed something, that sounds like the deeply serious analysis that serious people in serious positions of power have processed with their big, super-sized serious brains. Plus, they know they’ll always have Joe Lieberman and the Cable News Nets to lead the cheers for them. Not too mention that the Beltway Punditocracy’s Senior Class President, David Broder, who will no doubt insist, in the interests of national unity and the spirit of bi-partisanship (of course), that we support our President in his war against the evil mullahs of Iran, even if Our Dear Leader is forced to use “tactical” nukes to take out those allegedly secret underground Iranian nuclear sites.
This puts a whole new spin on the 97-0 Senate vote the other day approving the Lieberman amendment on Iran, now doesn’ it. Coupled with Nancy Pelosi’s refusal to include a provision requiring Bush to seek authorization from Congress before attacking Iran in the last defense supplemental spending bill, and the Democrats’ failure to reign in this administration from any further foreign policy “mistakes” (i.e., a preventive war against Iran, i.e., a disaster of monumental proportions) is all too apparent. Bush can now claim that both the Senate and the House have acquiesced in granting him whatever authority he needs to deal with Iran militarily.
So, once more our fate and the fate of the world is firmly in the hands of Dick “shoot first and duck questions later” Cheney and his fellow travelers among American neoconservatives, AICPAC and the far right hardliners in Israel. And if that doesn’t give you pause for concern, then you must be one of the 26 percenters who still worship at the altar of Bush. For everyone else, all I can say is “God help us” because clearly our Democratic leaders in Congress won’t.
