Plan to attack Iran is set, experts agree

There is so much happening so quickly that it's hard to know what to report, what to comment on and what to do. The Bushies are overwhelming in their pursuit of everything wrong.

First, of course, is the coming attack on Iran.

The only small chance we, and the world, have to avert that disaster is for the American public to create an uproar such as this country hasn't seen since the peak of the Vietnam war protests, and how likely is that?

Expert after expert, people who have access to information far beyond my humble reach and energy and courage far beyond those of most reporters and editors, has come to the conclusion that the decision to bomb Iran already has been made. The only question not obviously already answered is nuke or no nuke.

Sean Rayment of The Telegraph in England reported April 2 that the British government was beginning secret talks to “consider the consequences” of the upcoming attack, which officials see as “inevitable” if Iran doesn't abandon its uranium enrichment program. And, of course, the Bush oligarchy has created conditions which make it impossible for Iran to comply with its escalating demands.

Paul Krugman of the New York Times laid out the facts for his readers about a week ago.

Norman Solomon, executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy and author of “War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death,” said in a piece that, somewhat surprisingly, appeared in the Minneapolis Star Tribune April 18, that “the U.S. Government is very likely to launch a military attack on Iran within the next year” despite that fact that it has very little support for such a move among the citizens of the United States.

When the Bushies say they regard such an attack as a “last resort,” and will pursue diplomacy as long as possible, they are lying, Solomon concluded. White House strategists are deliberately trying to appear to be moving in one direction, but “are actually headed in another,” he said. They intend to take us to war in Iran.

Of course, as most progressives already have learned, Seymour Hersh, one of the very few truly trustworthy reporters covering such matters these days, said in a New Yorker piece this month that an attack appears inevitable.

Shortly after that New Yorker piece appeared, the Washington Post printed a long article that, though filled with “ifs” and “buts,” left the reader with the inescapable conclusion that, despite very strong opposition among military people and others with intimate knowledge of the situation, the attack will take place.

Further, the Post said, the administration has gone “beyond planning.” It has been flying survellance drones over Iran for about two years. The paper also noted Hersh's statement that U.S. combat troops already are in Iran collecting information to be used in aiming bombs and missiles. While the Post said it had not independently confirmed all of Hersh's information, the article clearly implied that it accepted his reporting as accurate.

It also pointed out, not incidentally, that Israel recently “leaked” information to the effect that it plans to attack Iran “if the United States does not.” Yeah, right. Another friendly Israeli nudge to our war machine to let Bush know that he shouldn't back down now.

Oh...In case you missed it or forgot about it because of the present focus on Iran, TomPaine.Common Sense, a highly reliable online news letter, reminded us April 17 that a major escalation of the war in Iraq is likely. That piece, written by Robert Dreyfuss, a contributing editor at The Nation, and a regular writer for Mother Jones and other publications, predicted that the Bush crowd will employ “massive U.S. Military air and ground” forces in yet another “shock and awe” effort.

It will be, Dreyfuss said “a desperate effort to tip the balance in Iraq in America's favor in advance of the 2006 elections.”

That prediction has been made, independently, by at least a dozen other reporters and commentators who closely follow military affairs and the Bush administration.

So here we are again. Just like four years ago. The Bush felons, zealots and nutcases are lying their heads off about pursuing “diplomacy” while preparing to follow through on the decision they've already made to attack Iran while also stepping up the level of violence in Iraq – primarily for the sake of maintaining their hold on power through this year's elections.

Deaths, maimings, mangled bodies, starvation, a hundred-fold increase in terrorism around the world? Who cares as long as the right wing maintains majorities in Congress?

The daily press and other “news media” are, of course, keeping us well informed about the situation. After all the humble pie they ate a few months ago, admitting that they let the Bushies get away with murder (literally, though they don't say so) on Iraq, they have to be straight with us this time, right?

Sure, and I'm Daddy Bush's twin brother.

Please, people. The chance of heading off the endless war is slim, but we have to try. Write every politician, every party official you can find and demand they work to stop the assault on Iran. Tell them you will do everything in your power to see them removed from office if they fail to act immediately. And follow up on that threat.