The Vast Right Wing Conspiracy played its "ace in the hole" against Obama - Rev. Jeremiah Wright - and it failed miserably, because Americans are sick and tired of Karl Rove's politics of personal destruction.
So now what are they going to do to keep the White House? It looks like we're back to "wag the dog." Cue up McCain's old Beach Boys song: "Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran."
On 5/11/07, Cheney threatened to bomb Iran while standing in front of five F-18 Super Hornet warplanes on the deck of the U.S.S. John C. Stennis in the Persian Gulf.
Last month, Cheney forced Iran war opponent Adm. James Fallon to resign from CentCom so he could appoint Gen. David Petraeus, a supporter of Cheney's plan to attack Iran.
Today Cheney's second-favorite NY Times propagandist, Michael Gordon, accused Iran of hosting Hezbollah bases to train Iraqi terrorists. (Gordon co-authored Judith Miller's worst Iraq lies.) What's the basis of Gordon's accusation?
An American official said the account of Hezbollah’s role was provided by four Shiite militia members who were captured in Iraq late last year and questioned separately.
As Tristero writes, "Probably tortured separately." And we all know what kind of "intelligence" torture produces.
The official summed up the information from the interrogation reports but did not make them available. He declined to be identified because the information had not been released publicly.
Of course it never will be "released publicly" because all of the torture tapes get scrubbed.
Today's "report" raises several key questions:
- Is the White House planning to launch an attack on Iran in order to elect John McCain?
- Is the White House planting propaganda - including torturing prisoners - to "sell" its attack?
- Did Bush approve a "covert offensive" against Iran, as Andrew Cockburn reports?
- Is the NY Times once again letting its front page be used for White House war propaganda?
- Will Democrats in Congress immediately demand the answers to these questions?
Update 1: War criminal John Bolton went on FOX News to demand the immediate bombing of Iran:
this is a case where the use of military force against a training camp to show the Iranians we’re not going to tolerate this is really the most prudent thing to do.
Update 2: Scott Ritter says it's a "virtual guarantee" that Bush will bomb Iran soon:
We take a look at the military buildup, we take a look at the rhetoric, we take a look at the diplomatic posturing, and I would say that it's a virtual guarantee that there will be a limited aerial strike against Iran in the not-so-near future-or not-so-distant future, that focuses on the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Command. And if this situation spins further out of control, you would see these aerial strikes expanding to include Iran's nuclear infrastructure and some significant command and control targets.
Update 3: Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Israel TV he is "very hopeful that we don't get into a position where we have to get into a conflict" because U.S. forces are already overstretched.
"It would be a very significant challenge for the United States right now to get into a third conflict in that part of the world," Mullen added, referring to the Bush administration's long-running military commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Clearly Mullen it's a "loyal Bushie" and is not toeing the neocon party line. How soon will he be forced to "resign" like Centcom's Adm. James Fallon?
