You may think that the latest NIE issued by the CIA claiming that Iran suspended its nuclear weapons program in 2003 would put a crimp in President Bush’s trousers, or at least give him pause when it comes to making incendiary claims about the looming threat of a nuclear armed Iran. And, probably any other President would indeed feel that his dream of starting another war in the Middle East had been dealt a serious blow by the US Intelligence Community’s unvarnished rejection of one of the central justifications for the Bush administration’s confrontational and provocative policies toward Iran.
But, we are not dealing with any ordinary President, my friends. We are dealing with a President who speaks with his Holy Father on a regular basis. And for some reason he hasn’t lost the faith that Iran is the most dangerous nation on the face of the earth, because, after all, they can still acquire the “knowledge” to build nuclear weapons, and that must be prevented at all costs:
(cont.)
George Bush today ruled out a change in Washington’s Iran policy following the declassification yesterday of a US intelligence report that concluded Tehran had abandoned its nuclear weapons programme in 2003. […]
“Iran was dangerous. Iran is dangerous. And Iran will be dangerous if they have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon,” Bush told his first White House press conference in nearly seven weeks. […]
He said the US would continue to work to “isolate” Iran, claiming the NIE was a “warning signal” to the international community.
“I think it is very important for the international community to recognise the fact that if Iran were to develop the knowledge that they could transfer to a clandestine program, it would create a danger of the world.
“And so, I view this report as a warning signal that they had the programme, they halted the programme. The reason why it’s a warning signal is they could restart it.” […]
Asked if he had been “hyping” the threat from Iran, Bush said he was only made aware of the NIE last week and insisted it had changed nothing. “I still feel strongly that Iran is a danger. I think the NIE makes it clear that Iran needs to be taken seriously as a threat to peace. My opinion hasn’t changed.“
Shorter Bush: I still have a hardon for bombing the crap out of Iran, and nothing short of impeachment is going to make me change my mind.
So nothing has really changed in Bush’s head. He has never relied upon the intelligence community before now in “deciding” whether to go to war, and he isn’t about to start now. He will remain, until the day he leaves office, convinced that a military attack against Iran is both necessary and justified, regardless of whether Iran is currently pursuing a nuclear weapons program or not.
For him, it’s all about the “knowledge” that they might have obtained, the same knowledge that American and European companies helped Pakistan’s A. Q. Khan acquire in the 1980’s and 90’s. The same knowledge that North Korea has, that Libya has, that Israel has, that South Africa and Brazil have, that Japan has, that China and Russia and India have, ad infinitum. It isn’t difficult to get such knowledge these days. And for Bush that is all the reason he needs to blow Iran to Kingdom come, slaughter thousands of Iranians and plunge the world into an even deeper abyss than we occupy at present, with even greater risks to the world’s economies, to peace, to our military forces in the Middle East, to our national security, and to individual Americans who would become targets of terrorist attacks here and overseas. That is what makes makes President Bush the most dangerous man on the planet right now and for the foreseeable future.
So, can we please start impeachment proceedings, Ms. Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi? Do you really want to wait until Bush pulls his itchy trigger finger and lets the cruise missiles and smart bombs fly over Tehran’s skies? Does any sane person really want to wait to see whether Bush goes through with his clear desire to bomb Iran?
I say stop him now while you still can.
