"The Iran Plans" details the covert intelligence operations currently underway in Iran and the discomfort of some in the government with Bush's approach to dealing with a possible Iranian nuclear threat - the facts of which are still very much disputed. And, as with the rationale for the Iraq war, Bush's motives are quite clear:
There is a growing conviction among members of the United States military, and in the international community, that President Bush's ultimate goal in the nuclear confrontation with Iran is regime change.
The depth of paranoia and fear in the White House is quite astounding:
Bush and others in the White House view him [Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad] as a potential Adolf Hitler, a former senior intelligence official said. "That's the name they're using. They say, "Will Iran get a strategic weapon and threaten another world war?"
As I wrote here just last week, The Telegraph newspaper had revealed that secret talks were being held by officials in the British government to discuss air strikes on Iran and an article in the Washington Post warned of the retaliation for such a strike - worldwide terrorism of a scale we haven't seen before. So, who's really starting the next world war here?
Yet, while Bushco is publicly pushing for diplomacy, it's up to its usual threats and behind the scenes planning and this time it involves using nuclear strikes - a revelation that has shocked many, but should have been expected from the group of neocons who want to control the Middle East.
What we will need to gauge in the coming days is the reaction from the White House and the Pentagon. Surely, the response to this leak - which must be seen as the mother of all leaks during a time of war - will be met with harsh criticism and an immediate call for an aggressive investigation. If the reaction is simply a denial, then one has to wonder if the sources who spoke to Hersh may only have been using him as a propaganda tool to send a strong message to Iran in a very public way that it must give up any plans to enrich uranium. Not that I'm suggesting that Hersh is another Judith Miller, but the Bush administration is famous for planting stories as a means to further its agenda - as we were reminded this week when we were informed via Libby's published testimony that Bush authorized the leak of classified information for political purposes.
On the other hand, there appears be to intense concern among many who spoke to Hersh that Bush would even be contemplating such a overdone show of military force when the IAEA, which the neocons have never been fond of, has not yet been able to determine exactly what Iran's capabilities are. So, Hersh's expose serves two purposes: one is the warning to Iran and the second is a very public admonition for US politicians to speak up, on the record, about Bush's plans.
Speculation among the lefty blogosphere has been rampant over this claim:
In recent weeks, the President has quietly initiated a series of talks on plans for Iran with a few key senators and members of Congress, including at least one Democrat.
Most fingers are pointing at Joe Lieberman (D-CT), who is further right than most other Democrats and who has been much too cozy with Bush during his tenure, although it could also be any Democratic member on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
This tidbit is also very disturbing:
The House member said that no one in the meetings "is really objecting" to the talk of war. "The people they're briefing are the same ones who led the charge on Iraq. At most, questions are raised: How are you going to hit all the sites at once? How are you going to get deep enough?" (Iran is building facilities underground.) "There's no pressure from Congress" not to take military action, the House member added.
And, with a Republican controlled congress that still can't admit it was wrong about Iraq, one has to wonder if this march to war with Iran isn't already inevitable.
Perhaps the loudest opposition will come from the military. As Hersh reports, "The attention given to the nuclear option has created serious misgivings inside the offices of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he added, and some officers have talked about resigning." That would certainly be an embarassment for the Bush administration, but with the Bush/Cheney poll numbers being at their lowest points ever, I'm sure they'd risk red faces to get on with plans for global domination.
UPDATE: Seymour Hersh appeared on CNN's Late Edition on Sunday. Here's the transcript. Crooks and Liars has the video.
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