Who Is Planning Our Next War?
As George Bush reflects on his legacy, an urgent
question must be pressing in upon him each day.
Will I leave here as the
man who launched failed wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
that cost thousands of U.S. dead, to no avail? Or can I
yet enter history as the Churchillian statesman who used
U.S. power to save America and Israel from the mortal
threat of atomic weapons in the hands of the Iranian
mullahs?
Which legacy would Bush prefer? Or Cheney?
As Americans await Bush`s address announcing a
"surge" of 20,000 to 30,000 U.S. troops to Iraq, we
may be missing the larger picture. The War Party is
turning its attention from Iraq—to Iran.
Nor is it simply an analysis of the character of
George Bush that causes one to so conclude.
Tehran is now two weeks into a
60-day deadline to answer a Security Council resolution
directing it to cease enriching uranium. While the
sanctions are mild, the resolution passed unanimously
and gives Bush the U.N. cover he used to wage war on
Iraq. If Iran defies the United Nations, Bush will
demand further sanctions. Up the escalator we go.
Moreover, a second U.S. carrier battle group is
heading for the Gulf. More interesting, the new CentCom
commander, replacing Gen. John Abizaid, is no soldier,
but Adm. William J. Fallon, commander in chief of U.S.
forces in the Pacific. What Fallon does not know about
securing streets, he does know about taking out targets
from the air and keeping sea lanes open in a time of
war.
Bush may be sending signals, but the Israelis are
preparing for war. The London Sunday Times
reports that Israeli pilots have been making the
2,000-mile run to Gibraltar to train for strikes with
bunker-busting nuclear bombs on Iran`s heavy water plant
at Arak, the uranium hexaflouride facility at Isfahan
and the centrifuge cascade at Natanz.
[Revealed:
Israel plans nuclear strike on Iran, by Uzi
Mahnami and Sara Butler]
Israel angrily denies the report. But, on Dec. 30,
retired Gen. Oded Tira, who headed up all Israeli
artillery units, burst into print with this admonition:
"As an American air strike in Iran is essential
for our existence, we must help (Bush) pave the way by
lobbying the Democratic Party (which is conducting
itself foolishly) and U.S. newspaper editors. We need to
do this in order to turn the Iranian issue to a
bipartisan one and unrelated to the Iraq failure."
"Bush lacks the political power to attack Iran,"
writes Tira. Thus, Israel and its U.S. lobbying arm
"must turn to Hillary Clinton and other potential
presidential candidates in the Democratic Party so that
they publicly support immediate action by Bush against
Iran." [What
to do with Iran? Oded Tira]
"The Americans must act," Tira concludes.
"If they don`t, we`ll do it ourselves … (and) we must
immediately start preparing for an Iranian response to
an attack."
According to UPI editor-at-large Arnaud De Borchgrave,
Tira`s line tracks the New Year`s Day message of Likud
superhawk "Bibi" Netanyahu, the former prime minister.
Said Netanyahu, Israel "must immediately launch an
intense, international public relations front first and
foremost on the U.S. The goal being to encourage
President Bush to live up to specific pledges he would
not allow Iran to arm itself with nuclear weapons. We
must make clear to the (U.S.) government, the Congress
and the American public that a nuclear Iran is a threat
to the U.S. and the entire world, not only Israel." [Analysis:
Never again? By ARNAUD DE BORCHGRAVE, UPI,
January 2, 2007 ]
Israel`s war, says Bibi, must be sold as America`s
war.
We are thus forewarned. A propaganda campaign, using
Israeli agents and their neocon auxiliaries and
sympathizers, who stampeded us into war in Iraq, is
being prepared to stampede us into war on Iran.
We are to be convinced that Iran, with no air force
or navy to speak of, an economy not 2 percent of ours,
which has not started a single war since the revolution,
27 years ago, is about to give to terrorists, to use on
us, a nuclear bomb it may be 10 years away from even
being able to build.
Will Congress be duped again into giving Bush a blank
check for war? Or will this new Congress summon the
courage to take the war option out of Bush`s hands, to
decide itself, for the nation, when, where and whether
America should ever go to war against Iran?
Every presidential candidate should be asked: Does
President Bush have the authority to attack Iran without
specific congressional authorization? And would you
support giving him that authority?
Needed today are courageous men and women of both
parties who will introduce and pass a congressional
resolution stating, "In the absence of a direct Iranian
attack on U.S. forces or personnel, or an imminent
threat of such an attack, President Bush has no
authority to launch a pre-emptive strike or a preventive
war on Iran."
If we are going to war, let us do it
constitutionally, for once, and not leave it up solely
to George W. Bush and Brother Cheney.
COPYRIGHT
CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.
Patrick J. Buchanan needs
no introduction to VDARE.COM
readers; his book
State of Emergency: The Third World Invasion and
Conquest of America,
can be ordered from
Amazon.com.


