[Sosfbay-discuss] Evidence that Bush might be preparing an attack on Iran (Dan Hamburg, Santa Monica Mirror)

Wed Apr 30 00:30:04 PDT 2008

---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: [usgp-media] Re: USGP-INT Evidence that Bush might be preparing
an attack on Iran (Dan Hamburg, Santa Monica Mirror)
From:    "Romi Elnagar" <bluesapphire48 at yahoo.com>
Date:    Tue, April 29, 2008 10:04
To:      "Scott McLarty" <scottmclarty at yahoo.com>
         usgp-media at gp-us.org
         usgp-int at gp-us.org
         dcsgp at yahoogroups.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scott,

  I think the spiraling cost of gas and the "global food crisis," both of
which are surely the result of manipulations at the highest levels of
government, are also part of this equation.
  These twin events will surely make the US public far more vulnerable to
manipulation and pressure to go to war.

  Hajja Romi

Scott McLarty <scottmclarty at yahoo.com> wrote:
  (Hillary Clinton, speaking on 'Good Morning
America' on April 22, 2008: "I want the Iranians
to know that if I'm the president, we will attack
Iran... In the next 10 years, during which they
might foolishly consider launching [a nuclear]
attack on Israel, we would be able to totally
obliterate them." Note: Israel has nuclear
weapons, Iran doesn't.)

Is an Attack on Iran Imminent?

Dan Hamburg
Santa Monica Mirror Contributing Writer
Vol. 9, Issue 46, April 24-30, 2008
http://www.smmirror.com/MainPages/DisplayArticleDetails.asp?eid=7672

George W. Bush is poised to order a massive
aerial bombardment – possibly including tactical
nuclear weapons – of up to 10,000 targets in
Iran. The attack would be justified on grounds
that Iran is interfering with U.S. efforts in
Iraq and that Iran is developing a nuclear
weapon, a charge that was debunked last fall in
the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE).

According to international experts, the U.S.
declared economic war against Iran on March 20.
On that day, the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes
Enforcement Network (FinCEN) called on the
world’s financial institutions to stop doing
business with Iran, making it much more difficult
for Iran to engage in global commerce.

Now the Bush administration is preparing to drop
the other shoe. Below are some of the
indications that a U.S. military attack on Iran
is imminent:

The March 11 resignation of CENTCOM Commander
Admiral William Fallon who, according to a
well-publicized Esquire magazine article, “openly
opposed Bush’s Iran policy and was a lone voice
against taking military action to stop the
Iranian nuclear program.”

The recent removal of Vice Admiral John
Stufflebeem, Commander of the 6th Fleet
(Mediterranean Sea), also known to be a critic of
the administration’s war plans.

Two U.S. warships took up positions off Lebanon
last month. According to US News & World Report,
“The United States would want its warships in the
eastern Mediterranean in the event of a military
action against Iran.”

The United States has two aircraft carrier strike
groups (the USS John C. Stennis and the USS
Eisenhower) stationed in the Persian Gulf with at
least one additional group reportedly on the way.

The Israeli air strike against Syria last
September was advertised as an attack on a
nuclear facility. Current speculation is that
the real purpose of the raid was to “force Syria
to switch on the targeting electronics for newly
received Russian anti-aircraft defenses.”
Knowing the electronic signatures of these
systems would reduce the risks for U.S. and
Israeli warplanes heading to Iranian targets.

Israel conducted its largest military exercises
ever beginning the week of April 6. This
exercise simulated missile strikes from Iran,
Lebanon, and Syria. (Note: Both 9/11 and the
London subway bombing of 7/7/07 occurred
simultaneous by with military and/or civil
defense exercises.)

One day after a March visit from Vice President
Cheney, the Saudi government announced “national
plans to deal with any sudden nuclear and
radioactive hazards that may affect the kingdom.”
This announcement came following warnings of
possible attacks on Iran’s nearby Bushehr nuclear
reactors.

According to former U.N. chief weapons inspector
Scott Ritter, the Pentagon has contracted for
additional bunker-buster bombs and planes that
carry them. Delivery is due this month.

The oncoming monsoon season, which would carry
radioactive fallout by wind and rain to countries
east of Iran (including Afghanistan, Pakistan,
and India), narrows the window for the optimal
launch of an air attack.

Over the past six months, two major incidents
have demonstrated the inadequate security of the
U.S. nuclear arsenal. On August 30, 2007, a B-52
Stratofortress bomber carrying 6 AGM-129 Advanced
Cruise Missiles, each armed with a W-80-1 nuclear
warhead, flew an unauthorized mission from Minot
AFB in North Dakota to Barksdale AFB in
Louisiana. (Barksdale is the major
disembarkation point for personnel and materiel
going to the Middle East.) This “Bent Spear”
incident marked the first time in more than 40
years that nuclear weapons had been flown across
the continental United States. A spate of up to
eight accidental deaths and suicides of personnel
from these two bases adds an ominous twist to
this story.

Recently, it was revealed that intercontinental
ballistic missile fuses had been sent to Taiwan
instead of the helicopter batteries they had
ordered. Sharp protests from China forced
President Bush to acknowledge the error
personally to Chinese Premier Hu Jintao.

As a result of these incidents, Defense Secretary
Robert Gates has ordered a series of
investigations, including a recent order for a
complete physical inventory of the entire U.S.
nuclear arsenal.

The Bush administration is hypocritical in its
claims that Iran cannot be trusted with nuclear
weapons. Given the Minot/Barksdale incident and
the mix-up between ballistic missile fuses and
helicopter batteries, the question that should to
be asked is: “Can the U.S. be trusted with
nuclear weapons?”

According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, a
“limited” nuclear attack on the main Iranian
underground site in Esfahan would result in three
million people killed by radiation within two
weeks and 35 million people exposed to dangerous
levels of radiation in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and
India.

Yet another preemptive attack and the devastation
of another civilian population would be grossly
immoral and in violation of all international
codes of conduct. No one can predict how such an
attack would end, especially in the tinderbox
that is the Middle East. Every patriotic
American, and especially every member of
Congress, should do whatever is in their power to
stop the Bush-Cheney cabal before they drag us
into World War III.

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