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ndebord
September 13th, 2007, 01:26 PM
A small lesson from history as we see an increase in administration attempts to influence the media

http://rawstory.com//news/2007/AntiIran_drumbeat_continues_from_US_diplomat_0913. html



http://www.moneyandmarkets.com/press.asp?rls_id=350&cat_id=25&


"Today’s resource war is coming to a head over control of the Persian Gulf region, while the last French and Indian War revolved around control of the Ohio Valley, a key to the lucrative fur trade. The French had it and the British colonialists wanted it. The French were victorious in the early rounds, but the British finally won a decisive battle on the Plains of Abraham outside Quebec City. By capturing the city, they ended the war.

Shortly after the Treaty of Paris, Britain decided to tax the Thirteen Colonies to pay back the money spent in their defense — without American representatives in the British Parliament.

Relations with the colonies went downhill very quickly. And since the French and Indians were no longer a threat, the next drumbeats along the Ohio were those of revolution — the American Revolution. All those colonial soldiers who were trained by the British to fight the French quickly turned their guns on their former allies.

In the end, the British won the war, but lost their prize."

MollyM/CA
September 13th, 2007, 07:29 PM
It's the lesson from recent history that scares me -- say it until [They -- American people, elected flunkies, whatever] believe it, then send in the bombers.

I could begin to believe the claims that under the spell of the Rapturous Religious, Bush or those who pull his strings are deliberately hastening the end of the world -- they'll get to go, of course.

or should that be Raptor- ous...

jdh
September 13th, 2007, 11:46 PM
deliberately hastening the end of the world
It seems to me that there have not been very many pundits of whatever stripe, for a long time, who have not advocated their "final solutions". Sorry to even mention that word on Rosh Hashanah :(

One might hope that at least some women-folk would be less susceptible to this type of thinking because it's pretty hard to make babies in less than 9 months, but don't ask me, I'm no expert.

David H

MollyM/CA
September 14th, 2007, 05:01 PM
It seems to me that there have not been very many pundits of whatever stripe, for a long time, who have not advocated their "final solutions".

A long time...

Cato? (Carthago delenda est)

Jahweh (and Adam)?

Jahweh (and Lucifer)?

Hasn't worked so well, has it.

Not sure, though, that bringing on the Rapture is precisely that -- "it's OUR bandwagon" and if we pull GB's strings right never mind that presbyopia, those stiff knees, WE'RE out of here. I can't explain the difference (and if I knew, f'rinstance, the Old Testament better might see that there isn't one) I feel -- maybe tomorrow. If there is one.

m

ktinkel
September 15th, 2007, 11:13 AM
A small lesson from history as we see an increase in administration attempts to influence the media and to distract us.

Paul Krugman’s column, “A Surge and Then a Stab (http://select.nytimes.com/2007/09/14/opinion/14krugman.html?n=Top%2fOpinion%2fEditorials%20and% 20Op%2dEd%2fOp%2dEd%2fColumnists%2fPaul%20Krugman) ,” in Friday’s New York Times talks about a Kurdish web site report of an oil deal signed by the Kurds and Hunt Oil Company of Dallas on Wednesday (the day before the President’s speech that still expressed hope about an oil revenue- sharing agreement among the sections of Iraq).

No one else seems to be following this story, and who knows exactly what a claim of this sort on a web site actually amounts to, but just having such a report doesn’t seem likely to encourage the warring factions in Iraq to unite.

From Krugman’s article: “Ray L. Hunt, the chief executive and president of Hunt Oil, is a close political ally of Mr. Bush. More than that, Mr. Hunt is a member of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, a key oversight body.” Krugman infers that if anyone knows the state of Iraq and its oil, it is Mr. Hunt, and most likely President Bush.

MollyM/CA
September 17th, 2007, 11:43 AM
Here is an article I got from Mark Rutledge, a campus minister at Duke. It is from

Common Dreams (http://www.commondreams.org/)

but his link didn't link and I couldn't find it on the date given. Again, the site's public so I think this is OK--


Bush Setting America Up for War on Iran

Posted By CommonDreams, September 16, 2007

Senior American intelligence and defense officials believe that President George W Bush and his inner circle are taking steps to place America on the path to war with Iran, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt.

Pentagon planners have developed a list of up to 2,000 bombing targets in Iran, amid growing fears among serving officers that diplomatic efforts to slow Iran’s nuclear weapons program are doomed to fail.

Pentagon and CIA officers say they believe that the White House has begun a carefully calibrated program of escalation that could lead to a military showdown with Iran.

Now it has emerged that Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, who has been pushing for a diplomatic solution, is prepared to settle her differences with Vice-President Dick Cheney and sanction military action.

In a chilling scenario of how war might come, a senior intelligence officer warned that public denunciation of Iranian meddling in Iraq - arming and training militants - would lead to cross border raids on Iranian training camps and bomb factories.

A prime target would be the Fajr base run by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Quds Force in southern Iran, where Western intelligence agencies say armor-piercing projectiles used against British and US troops are manufactured.

Under the theory - which is gaining credence in Washington security circles - US action would provoke a major Iranian response, perhaps in the form of moves to cut off Gulf oil supplies, providing a trigger for air strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities and even its armed forces.

Senior officials believe Mr Bush’s inner circle has decided he does not want to leave office without first ensuring that Iran is not capable of developing a nuclear weapon.

The intelligence source said: “No one outside that tight circle knows what is going to happen.” But he said that within the CIA “many if not most officials believe that diplomacy is failing” and that “top Pentagon brass believes the same”.

He said: “A strike will probably follow a gradual escalation. Over the next few weeks and months the US will build tensions and evidence around Iranian activities in Iraq.”

Previously, accusations that Mr Bush was set on war with Iran have come almost entirely from his critics.

Many senior operatives within the CIA are highly critical of Mr Bush’s handling of the Iraq war, though they themselves are considered ineffective and unreliable by hardliners close to Mr Cheney.

The vice president is said to advocate the use of bunker-busting tactical nuclear weapons against Iran’s nuclear sites. His allies dispute this, but Mr Cheney is understood to be lobbying for air strikes if sites can be identified where Revolutionary Guard units are training Shia militias.

Recent developments over Iraq appear to fit with the pattern of escalation predicted by Pentagon officials.

Gen David Petraeus, Mr Bush’s senior Iraq commander, denounced the Iranian “proxy war” in Iraq last week as he built support in Washington for the US military surge in Baghdad.

The US also announced the creation of a new base near the Iraqi border town of Badra, the first of what could be several locations to tackle the smuggling of weapons from Iran.

A State Department source familiar with White House discussions said that Miss Rice, under pressure from senior counter-proliferation officials to acknowledge that military action may be necessary, is now working with Mr Cheney to find a way to reconcile their positions and present a united front to the President.

The source said: “When you go down there and see the body language, you can see that Cheney is still The Man. Condi pushed for diplomacy but she is no dove. If it becomes necessary she will be on board.

“Both of them are very close to the president, and where they differ they are working together to find a way to present a position they can both live with.”

The official contrasted the efforts of the secretary of state to work with the vice-president with the “open warfare between Colin Powell and Donald Rumsfeld before the Iraq war”.

Miss Rice’s bottom line is that if the administration is to go to war again it must build the case over a period of months and win sufficient support on Capitol Hill.

The Sunday Telegraph has been told that Mr Bush has privately promised her that he would consult “meaningfully” with Congressional leaders of both parties before any military action against Iran on the understanding that Miss Rice would resign if this did not happen.

The intelligence officer said that the US military has “two major contingency plans” for air strikes on Iran.

“One is to bomb only the nuclear facilities. The second option is for a much bigger strike that would - over two or three days - hit all of the significant military sites as well. This plan involves more than 2,000 targets.”

I'd never seen Common Dreams before -- lots of interesting articles by some of my favorite people.

I'm wondering if this isn't another facet of what's being described as a deliberate attempt of Bush and/or his handlers to create an impossible mess for the next, presumably Democratic, administration. The dragging on of the 'surge' in disregard of all studies and reports not from someone whose head is at the mercy (sic) of the President is the current focus of speculation.

Mark has a great mailing list -- articles from many sources I'd never otherwise see, including his professional journals-- good links, jokes for the young at heart, and occasionally other entertainments. I'm sure he'd be glad to add anyone who'd care to e-mail me or leave me a private message with an e-mail address.

m

ndebord
September 17th, 2007, 08:07 PM
It's the lesson from recent history that scares me -- say it until [They -- American people, elected flunkies, whatever] believe it, then send in the bombers.

I could begin to believe the claims that under the spell of the Rapturous Religious, Bush or those who pull his strings are deliberately hastening the end of the world -- they'll get to go, of course.

or should that be Raptor- ous...

Molly,

Post-Enlightenment Age, no?

<sigh>