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 Chris Hedges: Bush’s Nuclear ApocalypsePosted on Oct 9, 2006
By Chris Hedges Editor’s Note: The former Middle East bureau chief for The New York Times and author of the bestseller “War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning” reports on Bush’s plan for Iran, and how a callous war, conceived by zealots, will lead to a disaster of biblical proportions. The aircraft carrier Eisenhower, accompanied by the guided-missile cruiser USS Anzio, guided-missile destroyer USS Ramage, guided-missile destroyer USS Mason and the fast-attack submarine USS Newport News, is, as I write, making its way to the Straits of Hormuz off Iran. The ships will be in place to strike Iran by the end of the month. It may be a bluff. It may be a feint. It may be a simple show of American power. But I doubt it. War with Iran—a war that would unleash an apocalyptic scenario in the Middle East—is probable by the end of the Bush administration. It could begin in as little as three weeks. This administration, claiming to be anointed by a Christian God to reshape the world, and especially the Middle East, defined three states at the start of its reign as “the Axis of Evil.” They were Iraq, now occupied; North Korea, which, because it has nuclear weapons, is untouchable; and Iran. Those who do not take this apocalyptic rhetoric seriously have ignored the twisted pathology of men like Elliott Abrams, who helped orchestrate the disastrous and illegal contra war in Nicaragua, and who now handles the Middle East for the National Security Council. He knew nothing about Central America. He knows nothing about the Middle East. He sees the world through the childish, binary lens of good and evil, us and them, the forces of darkness and the forces of light. And it is this strange, twilight mentality that now grips most of the civilian planners who are barreling us towards a crisis of epic proportions.
These men advocate a doctrine of permanent war, a doctrine which, as William R. Polk points out, is a slight corruption of Leon Trotsky’s doctrine of permanent revolution. These two revolutionary doctrines serve the same function, to intimidate and destroy all those classified as foreign opponents, to create permanent instability and fear and to silence domestic critics who challenge leaders in a time of national crisis. It works. The citizens of the United States, slowly being stripped of their civil liberties, are being herded sheep-like, once again, over a cliff.
The hypocrisy of this vaunted moral crusade is not lost on those in the Middle East. Iran actually signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. It has violated a codicil of that treaty written by European foreign ministers, but this codicil was never ratified by the Iranian parliament. I do not dispute Iran’s intentions to acquire nuclear weapons nor do I minimize the danger should it acquire them in the estimated five to 10 years. But contrast Iran with Pakistan, India and Israel. These three countries refused to sign the treaty and developed nuclear weapons programs in secret. Israel now has an estimated 400 to 600 nuclear weapons. The word “Dimona,” the name of the city where the nuclear facilities are located in Israel, is shorthand in the Muslim world for the deadly Israeli threat to Muslims’ existence. What lessons did the Iranians learn from our Israeli, Pakistani and Indian allies? Given that we are actively engaged in an effort to destabilize the Iranian regime by recruiting tribal groups and ethnic minorities inside Iran to rebel, given that we use apocalyptic rhetoric to describe what must be done to the Iranian regime, given that other countries in the Middle East such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia are making noises about developing a nuclear capacity, and given that, with the touch of a button Israel could obliterate Iran, what do we expect from the Iranians? On top of this, the Iranian regime grasps that the doctrine of permanent war entails making “preemptive” and unprovoked strikes. Those in Washington who advocate this war, knowing as little about the limitations and chaos of war as they do about the Middle East, believe they can hit about 1,000 sites inside Iran to wipe out nuclear production and cripple the 850,000-man Iranian army. The disaster in southern Lebanon, where the Israeli air campaign not only failed to break Hezbollah but united most Lebanese behind the militant group, is dismissed. These ideologues, after all, do not live in a reality-based universe. The massive Israeli bombing of Lebanon failed to pacify 4 million Lebanese. What will happen when we begin to pound a country of 70 million people? As retired General Wesley K. Clark and others have pointed out, once you begin an air campaign it is only a matter of time before you have to put troops on the ground or accept defeat, as the Israelis had to do in Lebanon. And if we begin dropping bunker busters, cruise missiles and iron fragmentation bombs on Iran this is the choice that must be faced—either sending American forces into Iran to fight a protracted and futile guerrilla war or walking away in humiliation. “As a people we are enormously forgetful,” Dr. Polk, one of the country’s leading scholars on the Middle East, told an Oct. 13 gathering of the Foreign Policy Association in New York. “We should have learned from history that foreign powers can’t win guerrilla wars. The British learned this from our ancestors in the American Revolution and re-learned it in Ireland. Napoleon learned it in Spain. The Germans learned it in Yugoslavia. We should have learned it in Vietnam and the Russians learned it in Afghanistan and are learning it all over again in Chechnya and we are learning it, of course, in Iraq. Guerrilla wars are almost unwinnable. As a people we are also very vain. Our way of life is the only way. We should have learned that the rich and powerful can’t always succeed against the poor and less powerful.” An attack on Iran will ignite the Middle East. The loss of Iranian oil, coupled with Silkworm missile attacks by Iran on oil tankers in the Persian Gulf, could send oil soaring to well over $110 a barrel. The effect on the domestic and world economy will be devastating, very possibly triggering a huge, global depression. The 2 million Shiites in Saudi Arabia, the Shiite majority in Iraq and the Shiite communities in Bahrain, Pakistan and Turkey will turn in rage on us and our dwindling allies. We will see a combination of increased terrorist attacks, including on American soil, and the widespread sabotage of oil production in the Gulf. Iraq, as bad as it looks now, will become a death pit for American troops as Shiites and Sunnis, for the first time, unite against their foreign occupiers. The country, however, that will pay the biggest price will be Israel. And the sad irony is that those planning this war think of themselves as allies of the Jewish state. A conflagration of this magnitude could see Israel drawn back in Lebanon and sucked into a regional war, one that would over time spell the final chapter in the Zionist experiment in the Middle East. The Israelis aptly call their nuclear program “the Samson option.” The Biblical Samson ripped down the pillars of the temple and killed everyone around him, along with himself.
If you are sure you will be raptured into heaven, your clothes left behind with the nonbelievers, then this news should cheer you up. If you are rational, however, these may be some of the last few weeks or months in which to enjoy what is left of our beleaguered, dying republic and way of life.
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By Ranselar VanDerpoel, October 10, 2006 at 8:46 am # In responce to # 27866: you asked for a political figure to stand up & say something. Well Jimmy Carter did that! The next day no one heard it! Way back then he told us we had ONLY 5 years to regain control of our government or it & our way of life was gone FOREVER! Why didn’t they hear it, it scared the hell out of them so it was blocked out of memory. WAKE UP AMERICA! I first wrote that paper in 1975 ! My youger sister a few years ago said to my older sis, when he told us this was comming, we told him he was craxy, now we get to live with it! The plan will end up with 13 military districts (with check points),they have the command set up already, detention centers under construction, a quasi military gov. and unending war.Its too late to stop something already in place! Our “soap opera” gov. can be sent home aytime, they have no power! You don’t either unless you want to become like the people over yonder, that you call insurgents,ect.. Its about to become HELL in AMERICA!
By PG, October 10, 2006 at 8:43 am # Comment #27935 by Basil on 10/09 at 10:06 pm If the strike against Iran is upcoming, where are the steady stream of speeches by the administration to prepare the American people? Wouldn’t the signal that an attack is in the offing be a series of warnings about mushroom clouds and smoking guns from the White House- as happened with Iraq? There’s not much heat on the public relations front right now, which doesn’t seem consistent with the modus operandi.
By Appalled, October 10, 2006 at 7:59 am # Joe says in Comment #27895: “I don’t think Israel cares too much if oil goes to $100+ / barrel.” Quite so; and the REASON they don’t care is that they know they can ram through our Congress any increase in US aid necessary to offset the economic consequences of this war. Uncle Sam always makes sure that there are no consequences for dear little special Israel.
By k9disc, October 10, 2006 at 7:59 am # “Remember the Maine!” No, seriously, “Remember the Maine!”
By Frere Loup, October 10, 2006 at 7:46 am # All three countries: Iraq, Iran, & North Korea were named “Axis of Evil” by our Dauphin after they went from the $$ to the Euro shortly after his selection. When the fortunes of the richfilth are challenged, or they see gold in distant hills, their actions are history. These times are different however in a couple of major ways. This isn’t Iran in ‘53, or Guatemala in ‘54, or Suez, or Vietnam, or Chile in ‘73 or any of the rest of our depredations. With a backdrop of global ecological collapse and the demise of white aryans as the dominant population group in the US (see: Census Data 2000), there is an active and growing death wish in the white American population. Years ago my mother, based on the serious abuse of her childhood, wished to make herself and all her children ‘safe’. She never consciously understood that the only way to be absolutely safe, was to be dead. That is however what she did to herself and attempted to do to us. America will kill herself (and the rest of the planet if ‘she’ can) to make herself ‘safe’, all with carefuly scripted false ratiocination. But the real ‘kicker’ I see here is simple fact: Melanin deficient Aryans are becoming a minority in the land we stole through genocide and built with slave labor. Of course, melanin deficient Aryans have nothing to fear from having our lives dominated by people the color of earth who don’t look or talk like we do. Do we? I’m sure all those people will behave with exactly the same Xrstian charity we have always shown to the minorities we enslaved or annihilated. Didn’t we? Yes, I said death wish.
By sK, October 10, 2006 at 7:43 am # Take a read at theforbiddenknowledge.com. Go ahead, snoop around. This article begins to scratch the surface… but “...biblical proportions.” I mean come--on! I’m not saying there is anyway I can know that, but there isn’t really any way for any of us to know that. Besides, it’s quite possible that there are forces around us that most people are unaware of that might NOT let another nuclear strike occur. I believe this to be a possibility. Happy Reading! “It’s what you know after you know it all that counts” Earl Weaver-
By John Liozeris, October 10, 2006 at 7:41 am # I dimly remember the ra,ra,raa in the high school gym.
By doug, October 10, 2006 at 7:23 am # .. the vast majority of US oil is from canada, the US itself, and south america… ur in the middle east for some other reason ...
By Rick, October 10, 2006 at 6:53 am # Mason, I do pray that you are wrong. Unfortunately, I think we are closer to a nuclear war than at any time since 1963. Personally, I would have no problem protesting and being dragged off to a camp. Better to teach that lesson to my children than to teach them to be sheep.
By fifthhorseman, October 10, 2006 at 5:49 am # If Iran had a nuclear weapon, they’d let us know. Its more useful as a detterent(sic) than as a weapon. Think Dr. Strangelove ... you built doomsday weapon and didn’t tell anyone? Iran is confident because they are a largely unified nation of 70 million people. They’ve seen the problems the US has in a fractured nation of 20 million people next door in Iraq. They know they might take a pounding, but in the long win that they won’t lose. They are a nation about 30 years after its revolution. Think USA in about 1806. They believe in themselves and their nation. I’ve always felt the Iraq war was entirely for the profit of Haliburton, Bechtel and the war weapons manufacturers and maybe the oil companies ... but the latter are too realistic to have done more than hope that the dreams of flaq waving liberation were true. If you live in one of the rare places where the two candidates on the ballot have a difference of opinion on this, make sure you vote. Most of the American people won’t wake up until their world crashes around them. They’ve been trained into a complacent stupidity.
By rule, October 10, 2006 at 5:35 am # Could this be a feint to trigger a significant terrorist attack by radicals who are reading this intel? A terrorist attack is a strange gamble for this administration, but it worked before and with the bully pulpit of the presidency, Bush can again sit high in the saddle and make a majority of Americans feel safe. There is a lot riding on this election. Many of the crooks and liars in the administration and their sponsors in the banking, energy, health and Israeli lobby are deathly afraid. They wake up every morning with vision of seeing orange prison garb in the mirror, they desperation could trigger them to do anything.
By Republicae, October 10, 2006 at 5:05 am # The Statists fully understand that without the Waste Machine of War (whatever type of war that might be, i.e. “war on terror, poverty, drugs, you name it), there can be no control over the population; War serves a larger social utility than we realize, or perhaps understand. In the eyes of The Statists, War is a wonderful thing; it serves them well, economically, politically and socially. Peace is the Enemy of The State…that has always been the case. Peace does not allow The State to function as it pleases; peace inhibits The State from the power of imposition and coercion. What The State calls “foreign policy” is nothing more than its ability to enforce its ideals and attitudes on other nations while making adjustments to the domestic social order. The State has manipulated the use of the term “Defense” simply to justify interventionism and imperialism abroad and the social structure at home. To The State, war is an essential system for its own existence and a stable internal structure of politics by which it can legitimatize its right to rule. Without the existence of an external threat, the war system loses its meaning and the necessity of The Massive State Apparatus can no longer be validated in the minds of the People. The Statists view the political functions of war as a critical instrument of social stability and transformation. Trotsky’s Continual Revolution is a good example of The Statist Ideal. War is the great organizer, at least in their minds; it allows The State to regulate society by the inducement of fear. Fear is the great shackler of the people; it has always served the purposes of The State and will continue to do so if the People remain complacent to their methods of control. Peace and Prosperity can never accomplish the goals of servitude; only waste and destruction can make servitude possible on a scale that will suit the needs of the Statists. Peace and Prosperity are necessary to create a system that is anathema to that which The State seeks, Peace and Prosperity creates an atmosphere where the Individual can thrive in Liberty to fulfill the ultimate goal of the Natural Rights of Man. In Liberty,
By thegoldenbb, October 10, 2006 at 4:56 am # Fucking useless baby boomers. They never got over losing in Vietnam and the only thing they haven’t been able to do (yet) is nuke someone, which is apparently one of their greatest desires as a generation. Hey, you can’t take it with you and they have to have it *all*. So there you go. I do think the article is alarmist, but the reasoning that the neocons wheels have come off and they have left all sense of proportion and rationality long behind is dead on. If an attack on Iran is pre-ordained, only a military coup will prevent it. Then the US will have a military dictator.
By John, October 10, 2006 at 4:55 am # We hava attentively sat, read, and commented as our country, in textbook style, performed a historically proven method of turning a country into a dictatorship. It is now the law of the land. History also tells us that there is but one way to remove such a dictatorship. It is costly, difficult and not a pleasing sight. The time has no come for us to make that most difficult decision.
By Carol Moore, October 10, 2006 at 4:48 am # If US doesn’t use nukes in the first strike, it will in retaliation. Will Russian leaders panic seeing dozens of nuclear armed planes and missiles approaching a few hundred miles from its border? When EMP effects knock out some Russian radar? And let’s define Israel’s Samson Option more clearly, as described in Seymour Hersh’s book of that name. Israel uses its (probably 400 by now) nukes to attack not only Arab capitals, but cities in “anti-Semitic” Europ and Russia. And when our “allies” Israel attack Russia, Russia definitely nuke us back. Let’s not pull our punches.
By bill payne, October 10, 2006 at 4:22 am # Hans Buehler reported that “they” have nukes. Eric Margolis [send him mail], contributing foreign editor for Sun National Media Canada has an idea about what to do about it. In 1980, the US and Britain engineered Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Iran in an attempt to crush its new revolutionary Islamic government. That war inflicted nearly one million casualties on Iran. President Ahmadinejad led volunteers in the war. Saddam should face trial for his many crimes, but in a proper legal venue, under full western and international law. The trial should be moved at once to the UN tribunal at the Hague. A fair trial will establish an important international legal precedent. After getting Saddam to invade Iran in 1980, and funding the ensuing eight-year Iran-Iraq war, the U.S. now watches helplessly as Iran slowly ingests large portions of Iraq. For a start, consider Iran. The 1980-88 war with Iraq saw an astonishing sacrifice of life. Not the least astonishing was the Iranian technique for clearing mines: It has now become accepted folklore that Iranian military leaders marched children through the minefields, with everyone content in the knowledge that those who died would get a quick passage to heaven. John Gray, Canadian journalist
By Nick, October 10, 2006 at 4:15 am # there is alternative i can think off. Neo-cons may have dreams of - Neo-con Earth minus everybody on the planet - Nuke everyone in the planet except continental america. Lo ! you have the whole planet no worries, not big ranches anymore for cowboys but the whole of earth.they can survive nuclear winter with all the present riches and tech. developed by the Earthians. God save planet earth from these unilaterlist,self rightists,greedy , $ hungry corporate thugs.
By Sam, October 10, 2006 at 3:42 am # As an Iranian im pretty concerned about the situation right now, but one thing is for sure and that is WW3 will happen if Iran is targeted and Iranian and US soldiers will die in the thousands and maybe hundreds of thousands for a few billion barrels of oil. Iran is no Iraq though, we are mugh bigger than Iraq, mountainous terrain and pretty good air defence coverage of the whole country. If we are struck, american forces in the middle east will be more or less finished as will Israel via Shahab-3 missiles with possible nuclear warhead(if we are struck with a nuclear bomb ourselves). American vessels, aircraft carriers will also be sitting ducks from anti-ship missiles which are in the many. On the whole, i truly hope our two Mad presidents dream (as both are apparently high) that war is bad and our two religions are like brother and sister. Peace
By Skip Conover, October 10, 2006 at 2:57 am # Listening to Oliver North last night, on Fox News, certainly seems to confirm your observations. He is going to have a special edition of “War Stories” on Sunday night, just so the neocons can persuade us of the rightness of their actions in advance. The “October Surprise” anyone!? Let’s just see if we can start a war to get Americans to vote for Republicans once again.
By cs, October 10, 2006 at 1:33 am # “Accompanied by guided-missile destroyers Mason and Ramage and guided-missile cruiser Anzio, the Eisenhower began what is expected to be a seven-month tour in support of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The group will relieve the carrier Enterprise and three other Norfolk-based ships due back next month” http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=1 12076&ran=121835&tref=po This story suggests a simple rotation of carriers. This may or may not be true. But it is worth consideration before jumping to conclusions.
By stephen L, October 10, 2006 at 1:28 am # When a nuclear weapon is smuggled into New York City and goes off. The world economy collapsed. The American currency collapses, your stocks and bank accounts become worthless....then you will unite behind the president in doing whatever it takes to stop nuclear proliferation. But it will be one day too late. All the smears, lies, cultural war, desire to ‘remake’ america will all become meaning less as you are unable to provide for your family. and you can look at the mess and realize that you helped to make it, you supported rogue nations gaining nukes in order for propaganda value to combat the “evil” republicans.
By Michael, October 10, 2006 at 1:17 am # Once again the media without a conscience publishes a plausible and reasonable analysis of the situation in the Muddle East; but, nevertheless, an analysis which completely disregards the theological origin of the conflict between Judaeo-Christian civilization and Islamic civilization in the lies and errors of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim theologians concerning the Doctrine of ‘resurrection’ (’Rebirth’). Good luck. You’re going to need it. Michael
By just me, October 10, 2006 at 1:01 am # I wish I could agree with the statement made above by Rex Alcatraz - I would be able to sleep tonight. I saw James Baker on The Daily Show this evening - he had just returned from Iraq - and he was ever so clear that his recommendations would not be available until after the November elections. I completely agree that “Pappy” has decreed that Baker be brought in to inject some sense into Jr.’s Iraq policy, but it is well-known that Jr. hates his father, and I fear Jr. might just “push the button” with Iran out of spite. I did the only thing with this information that I could think to do ... I forwarded the entire article to my state’s Democratic senator. He may think I’m a crackpot - and maybe he will be right - but at least I did SOMETHING. I wish more people would do the same; maybe SOMEONE would listen.
By peter, October 10, 2006 at 12:21 am # We should ask ourselves who has been pushing the madman in the White House into this new adventure in Iran. Answer: AIPAC and its Zionist buddies (including Christian Zionists who can’t wait to be rapturized).
By mari, October 9, 2006 at 10:50 pm # I think this page scandal was a setup to avoid media attention to the deployment of the military to Iran. This is truly a Rovian plot. Get all the media to cover this scandal and take the country to world war three. Who will care about the page scandal after we bomb Iran?
By scorpio69er, October 9, 2006 at 10:40 pm # re: “What we’re beginning to witness, people, is the ultimate expression of unbridled capitalism: War for Profit, managed by the War Profiteers themselves.” This is hardly new. SEE: ‘THE BEST ENEMY MONEY CAN BUY’, ‘WALL STREET AND As Sutton wrote: “It is...eminently clear from the evidence in this trilogy that “public-spirited businessmen” do not journey to Washington as lobbyists and administrators in order to serve the United States. They are in Washington to serve their own profit-maximizing interests. Their purpose is not to further a competitive, free-market economy, but to manipulate a politicized regime, call it what you will, to their own advantage.”
By DaXiong, October 9, 2006 at 10:35 pm # One of the posters was wondering what to do about an impending war with Iran and the subsequent chaos it will cause. Now, this is an essential question, with a very difficult answer. Take action! Sending emails is nice and safe, but you have to do more to take action. Posting comments to an article is nice and safe, but you have to do more to take action. Being angry, even outraged, at the thought of this scenario is a start, but you have to do more to take action. Print some flyers, organize a local meeting, become an activist for sanity. Confront the politicos that have gone mad. Make your demands known by getting out into your community and saying out loud, “hey, this is all insane. We have to take a different road. Stop what you are doing. It’s nuts, and not what we want!” You are America.
By mari, October 9, 2006 at 10:06 pm # How do we as Americans sit by and watch a cornered bush, bomb a country for no reason. This is truly the most appaling bit of info I have read in awhile! MostAmericans have no idea about this because the news they watch would never touch on this scarry subject! Let’s get the word out before they bomb! Let’s let the world know this may be the intention!
By Easter Lemming Liberal News, October 9, 2006 at 9:51 pm # The Eisenhower will join two other carrier groups already in the region - Enterprise . Another Marine Amphib force is also steaming there to join the current one. If this is only a show of force it is huge. Since this is too small a force for an invasion it must be to guard the straits against any Iranian retaliation, just supposing they might consider hundreds of bombing attacks an act of war, and just supposing this does not lead to an uprising against the Aytollahs but instead leads to demands for revenge against America and Israel.
By Bingbataboom, October 9, 2006 at 9:07 pm # The confidence that Iran displays makes me think they already have deployable nuclear weapons purchased from the former Soviet Union garage sales in Belarus and Kahzakstan. Like the ones Lebed spoke of before he got choppered out. Any nation with a desire for autonomy needs a defensive nuclear capability - all thanks to the Cheney and his ziocon maniacs.
By Gerald Joseph, October 9, 2006 at 9:07 pm # Jon B: “What’s the urgency to launch war? I really would like to know.” Your answer lies with the Israel lobby.
By Basil, October 9, 2006 at 9:06 pm # If the strike against Iran is upcoming, where are the steady stream of speeches by the administration to prepare the American people? Wouldn’t the signal that an attack is in the offing be a series of warnings about mushroom clouds and smoking guns from the White House- as happened with Iraq? There’s not much heat on the public relations front right now, which doesn’t seem consistent with the modus operandi.
By GreginOz, October 9, 2006 at 8:55 pm # ODE TO RUMMY
By OlyEcon, October 9, 2006 at 8:49 pm # I probably won’t come back here as I am a forgetful person but I think its worth pointing out that when you make a comment like “[that] makes our winning the November election even more imperative” (and forgive me for assuming that when you say our you’re referring to the democratic party) you ignore the fact that there has been very little difference between dem. and rep. foreign policy strategy since 1977. Clinton bombed Iraq every three days all through his administration (that’s averaged out) and killed nearly three quarters of a million Iraqis by various means throughout his administration. He also kicked our overseas base building program into overdrive and perpetrated a war (under the guise of the US controlled UN) that was disgustingly inhumane and illegal in Yugoslavia. If “we” win in November (although there may be some small tactical changes; multilateralism rather than unilateralism) there will most likely be only slight variances in the path followed. If “we” actually want any palpable change in the overarching strategy of the United States when it comes to foreign interactions “we” need to look at the economics and the history behind our positive reality (positive meaning current fact) and what factors led to todays birth. If you don’t like the fact that we’re in the middle east then perhaps you should ride your bike. If you don’t like that we’re in the middle east and you need to drive perhaps you should consider alternate fueling methods or purchase from more equitably priced sources (perhaps lobbying for more trade with Venezuela/Bolivia at fair trade prices). In general you should look at whether or not, on those factors you find seem most germane to our current position, there is any difference between the democrats and the republicans and how they approach whatever multitude of determinants you compile.
By Ryan M. Ferris, October 9, 2006 at 7:36 pm # Are we ready for the new cold war to become World War III? Will war with Iran be the next October Surprise?: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArt icle&code=NAZ20061001&articleId=3361: ‘Award-winning investigative reporter and journalist Dave Lindorff has written: “[Retired] Colonel Gardiner, who has taught military strategy at the National War College [of the United States], says that the [U.S. Navy] carrier deployment and a scheduled Persian Gulf arrival date of October 21 [2006] is “very important evidence” of war planning. He says, “I know that some naval forces have already received ‘prepare to deploy orders’ [PTDOs], which have set the date for being ready to go as October 1 [2006]. Given that it would take about from October 2 to October 21 to get those forces to the [Persian] Gulf region, that looks about like the date” of any possible military action against Iran. (A PTDO means that all crews should be at their stations, and ships and planes should be ready to go, by a certain date—in this case, reportedly, October 1.) Gardiner notes, “You cannot issue a PTDO and then stay ready for very long. It’s a very significant order, and it’s not done as a training exercise.” ‘
By george drosdowich, October 9, 2006 at 7:09 pm # Yes, a very disturbing possibility.hopefully not a likely one.
By mark, October 9, 2006 at 6:54 pm # Great read on Bush mid-east policy. Mr Hedges’ post should be on every web-site and every newspaper. One item that freaked me out was that Elliot Abrams ‘handles the Middle East for the National Security Council’. I thought he was a convicted felon. Yikes!
By Charles Newlin, October 9, 2006 at 6:49 pm # A few of you missed an important point: the attack may be IN THE NEXT THREE WEEKS, BEFORE the election. We can’t remove W in any way before that. What can we do, if we’d rather not go down in flames behind him? 27799 has a good point: general strike. That takes prior organization, and won’t prevent a war unless the threat is out there beforehand. I’m not optimistic: My wife & I just attended the World Cant Wait march in Portland, held on a Thursday as a test run for a general strike - they called on people to leave work or school for it. In Portland, Ore, they got about 800 people, even fewer in some larger cities. Not very threatening to the Powers That Be. I fear the only people who can save us are patriots in the military. It’s a heavy burden, but hey, they signed up (and took an oath) to defend the country. Now is the time. So: (preceded by a digest of Hedges’ article, or maybe Ritter’s) We call on all members of the US Military, but especially the high command, to refuse any orders to launch an attack of any kind on Iran. It would be a war crime, the crime of aggression; and every soldier who participates would be guilty along with those who order it. Save yourselves and save your loved ones and the whole country: stand tall and refuse illegal orders. We are depending on you. Who can reach members of the military with this or a similar appeal? Someone they’ll listen to? This is big time stuff, disobeying orders. There have to be a lot of them, or high officers, not just a few sacrificial lambs like Ehren Watada. I’ll try Veterans for Peace, you forward the idea to whoever can help. This is sedition, so now’s your chance. Chris Hedges, Robert Scheer, are you reading this? Any suggestions? Anybody YOU know? Charles
By darby1936, October 9, 2006 at 6:14 pm # It’s all good. Jim Baker will clean up the mess. Or the next president. And $200 a barrel oil will be good forExxon-Mobile.
By stonehinge, October 9, 2006 at 5:28 pm # Bukko’s comment and his link amounts to “moving in the right direction” in terms of understanding the big picture. People who claim that reports like this are too apocalyptic are simply naive. In fact, Cheney’s long-term strategy doesn’t even stop with the attack on Iran...that is simply the next step in his plan to achieve Full-Spectrum Dominance. Take a look at this analysis from Global Research to understand more.
By Joe, October 9, 2006 at 5:18 pm # Other than the ending I agree with the article. Israel is one of the prime forces calling for an attack on Iran, and they are trying to transfer the conflict with the Muslim world into the military sphere where the West has the advantage. The countries surrounding Israel will be reduced to rubble, and I don’t think Israel cares too much if oil goes to $100+ / barrel. Israel is trying to provoke the Muslims into attacking them so they can use their or the US’s nuclear arsenal.
By fubar, October 9, 2006 at 4:58 pm # Though I may be inclined to believe that BushCo have already drawn up plans for some sort of action against Iran. Let me make some things clear about a the Eisenhower. Whenever a Carrier Battle Group are deployed, they always have Frigates, Destroyers, Battleships and nuke subs. (one or sometimes two) Most of the time these kids don’t know “exactly” where they are going until they get there so the chances that anyone knows definitively other than the Captain are pretty slim. They could be going to prepare for a conflict with Iran. But then again, this could just be their regular deployment now that their RCOH is finished and all of their quals are behind them. Let’s all not get worked up just yet. I will try to find out something more if possible. My daughter is in the Navy and stationed at Newport News Naval Shipyard. She is stationed on a carrier so I know a little bit about what they know and don’t know when they deploy because of her deployments and the information that they were/weren’t given. You have to remember that these kids have e-mail on those ships so the less they know to tell their family members while they are gone the better. Too bad it doesn’t always work out that way. From a parents point of view I wanted to know where she was going. My son just recently returned from Iraq and I wanted to know where he was. Call me crazy. Just never been one to bury my head in the sand, even when I should.
By Alarm, October 9, 2006 at 4:41 pm # As Hedges laments: “The country, however, that will pay the biggest price will be Israel. And the sad irony is that those planning this war think of themselves as allies of the Jewish state.” And that is the heart of the matter. This stupid crime that will be national suicide fro the USA and possibly for Israel is being planned for dear little Israel’s benefit. Anyone who points this out can be smeared as an anti-Semite or a self-hating Jew. All we can do is watch, tied to the tracks, as this unstoppable train approaches.
By Mac McKinney, October 9, 2006 at 4:38 pm # Well, this is the conceivable future if we do nothing. So now it is up to all of us still connected to reality, humanity and an ethical universe to set the rock-solid intention that this shall not come to pass, that we will prevail over these wretched fascists and murderers, that our Light will dissipate their darkness. It is useless to wring our hands about this, but rather time to become centered, grounded and focused on triumph. It is helpful to remember that God is in all, that love is what sustains the Universe and that we can draw from this greater reality and power to unite ourselves across all boundaries to challenge and defeat this plague of fools and maniacs lost in hubris, delusion and paranoia.
By Mad As Hell, October 9, 2006 at 4:33 pm # Chris Hedges is insane. He’s halucinating. Chris Hedges is clearly nuts. Except I think there’s a really good chance he’s right. Attacking Iran without provocation will convert Bush’s “war on terrorism” into WWII. And then anything can happen. But won’t it be wonderfully ironic if the whole insane, evil plan of Mad King George and his band of Merrie Fascists all came apart because a pervert in the House of Representatives wanted to back-end children and didn’t cover his tracks well enough? (to those readers who are Gay--I don’t see THAT as a perversion--preying on children is the perversion). It’s also ironic that North Korea developing an atomic bomb has NOT been to the neo-fascists’ advantage! What people are saying is: “You Lying IDIOTS!!! North Korea was ALWAYS the more serious threat, not Iraq, not Iran. Just like you were attacking the surplus and the Kyoto accords when you SHOULD have been battling terrorism, this has come back to bite you in the ass and, even MORE than 9/11, shows you have learned NOTHING after 5 years and 9 months in power!” I think the American people see North Korea developing The Bomb as a significant FAILURE of Mad King George’s and the MFs’ foreign policy. Yet again, the neo-fascists are looking and banging the drums of war in the WRONG direction! Sure, there may WELL be an incident a la Tonkin Gulf involving Iran. But while we might be the “United States of Amnesia”, it takes more than 3 years to forget we were lied into the war in Iraq (and squandered any and every chance we had to actually WIN in Afghanistan! Yes, we COULD have won and SHOULD have won...had Bush and his MFs been competent and loyal Americans.) It is my fervent hope that the Dems log the BIGGEST victory in history in the House and Senate and then begin REAL impeachment proceeding against President George W. Bush, Vice-President Richard Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condileeza Rice, Karl Rove,and last but not least, Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez. Then convict them at the impeachment trial. Let’s follow EXACTLY Article 1, Section 3 of the virtually defunct US Constitution: “Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office,” “and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States:” (In other words, you can NEVER serve in the government again if the Senate so bans you.) “but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.” It’s time Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Rove and Gonzalez learn that the LAW applies to EVERYONE in the United States. They should learn first-hand that they have NO special rights and then spend the REST of their miserable lives in prison--And, by that time, the DECENT people of the USA will have emptied the prison at Guantanamo and it will be completely READY for new, and this time DESERVING occupants of that hell-hole! That’s what I want: The LEGAL and lawful trial, legal removal from office, conviction and interment for LIFE of these criminals. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Rove and Gonzalez may believe that they can violate our law and Constitution, but I think it provides us with clear, simple and LEGAL tools to punish them and save ourselves. If we follow the legal and honorable path, we won’t become like them. Incompetent Idiot Criminals!
By Mason, October 9, 2006 at 4:25 pm # I have been predicting this war since last fall and I have been predicting October 24th to be the day when the nukes fly. I think that the only lesson that King George and his neocon enablers “learned” as the result of Israel’s failure to overcome and penetrate beyond Hezbollah’s defensive network of tunnels in Lebanon using conventional smart bombs, with which we supplied them, was that the only way to git-r-done is to use tactical nuclear weapons. Our government has been building new nuclear bombs for this war and I do not doubt that it fully intends to use them. Why? Because as Paul Wolfowitz said, “We can.” I am absolutely horrified about what’s going to happen and with the GOP now unravelling behind Predatorgate such that the Dems have a legitimate shot of winning control of at least one house in Congress, I realize that any reservations that King George entertained about nuking Iran have evaporated because, in what passes for his mind, he cannot allow the elections to take place. A Democratic majority means subpoenas, hearings, and impeachment by inches. God, how I wish it were not so, but I think we’re looking at nuclear war in fifteen days followed by cancelled elections and dissenting citizens being rounded up and disappeared into gulags, never to be seen or heard from again. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m terrified and I don’t scare easily. I think that the only hope we’ve got is if someone wearing a ton of brass marches into the White House and takes the car keys away from the madman whose foreign policy is dictated by a disembodied voice in his head that he calls God. Pray that I’m wrong.
By Frank Breckenridge, October 9, 2006 at 4:10 pm # A previous responder wrote: “Which makes our winning the November election even more of an imperative. We win, we save the world. We lose, there is no world.” Uh, in case you haven’t noticed, we no longer have free, legitimate elections. Thanks to the hijacking of the election process by private computer voting machines, with no paper trail, and the companies’ refusal to have open source information, how can we vote and believe our vote was counted for who we thought we were voting for? You might ask this question of several million Ohioans if you have any doubts about this.
By opeluboy, October 9, 2006 at 3:29 pm # Well, that is just about the scariest piece I’ve read in a while, though not a possibility I had excluded. These people are certainly delusional enough to do it. Meanwhile, ignore all the crap about the power of “The Lobby.” It’s all about oil, right, Greg Palast? Oh yes, and by the way, Tony Judt just had another lecture cancelled in NYC. Seems the ADL doesn’t like his view on all this. Self-hating son of Holocaust survivors that he is.
By yours truly, October 9, 2006 at 2:46 pm # Which makes our winning the November election even more of an imperative. We win, we save the world. We lose, there is no world.
By angryspittle, October 9, 2006 at 2:33 pm # These batshit crazy motherfuckers are bound and determined to get us all killed. Bush will not be satisfied until he does to his country what Hitler did to his. The man is certifiably nuts. Add Your Comment |
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