War With Iran Now Appears Inevitable!
Get Ready For $12 A Gallon Gas!
Amid the escalating crisis of war fever with Iran, there are now reports from several sources that Bush has quietly permitted Israeli Jets to use U.S. air bases to launch their attack on Iran.As insane as it sounds, and despite massive resistance within the senior military, the stage would now appear set for the U.S. to be at war with Iran before the election.
Late last month the Israelis conducted large scale military maneuvers over the eastern Mediterranean with 150 F-15s & F-16s that American officials say appeared to be a rehearsal for a potential bombing attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Only Sunday the London Times reported that President George W Bush backs Israeli plan for strike on Iran Now, apparently, the final piece is in place for Bush's mad war on Iran!
According to the reports, sources in the Iraqi Defense Ministry told a local news network Friday that Israeli fighter jets have been flying over Iraqi territory for over a month in preparation for potential strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, adding that the aircraft have been landing in American bases following the overflights.
To begin with, obviously any Israeli attack on Iran would require the U.S. to permit over-flight of Iraqi air-space by Israeli warplanes. That the Israelis would be permitted to base their strikes from U.S. air-fields "only five minutes" from their targets inside Iran is the natural next step.
Thus, if the London Times report is true, that virtually guarantees that Bush has given the Israelis the green light to use U.S. bases. At a minimum they would need to cross Iraq to get to Iran through U.S. controlled Iraqi air-space. So, any Israeli attack would automatically mean U.S. war with Iran.
To Review The Instantly Forgotten Past: The National Intelligence Estimate, a consensus of the U.S. Intelligence Agencies published just last December concluded: "Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and that the program remains frozen, contradicting judgment two years ago that Tehran was working relentlessly toward building a nuclear bomb."
The Bush Administration response to the NIE that, widely interpreted as putting a damper on Cheney's insane fixation about attacking Iran, was to ignore, attack and repudiate it.
The Administration downplayed the significance of the N.I.E., and, while saying that it was committed to diplomacy, continued to emphasize that urgent action was essential to counter the Iranian nuclear threat. President Bush questioned the N.I.E.’s conclusions, and senior national-security officials, including Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, made similar statements. (So did Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican Presidential nominee.)
Then, in March, Admiral Fallon, until recently the head of U.S. Central Command in charge of Iraq and Afghanistan, resigned under pressure, after giving a series of interviews stating his reservations about an armed attack on Iran.
The departure of Admiral Fallon apparently did not quell the military opposition to war with Iran.
Late last year, in an off-the-record lunch meeting, Secretary of Defense Gates met with the Democratic caucus in the Senate. (Such meetings are held regularly.) Gates warned of the consequences if the Bush Administration staged a preëmptive strike on Iran, saying, as the senator recalled, "We’ll create generations of jihadists, and our grandchildren will be battling our enemies here in America." Gates’s comments stunned the Democrats at the lunch.
In addition,
The Joint Chiefs of Staff, whose chairman is Admiral Mike Mullen, were "pushing back very hard" against White House pressure to undertake a military strike against Iran. . . . Similarly, a Pentagon consultant who is involved in the war on terror said that "at least ten senior flag and general officers, including combatant commanders"—the four-star officers who direct military operations around the world—"have weighed in on that issue."
Faced with this revolt of senior military officers, Cheney has apparently pulled an end-run around the serving military by getting Bush to give the Israelis "permission" to launch an attack before a new President could take office who might prohibit them from attacking Iran:
President George W Bush has told the Israeli government that he may be prepared to approve a future military strike on Iranian nuclear facilitiesif negotiations with Tehran break down, according to a senior Pentagon official.
Despite the opposition of his own generals and widespread scepticism that America is ready to risk the military, political and economic consequences of an airborne strike on Iran, the president has given an "amber light" to an Israeli plan to attack Iran’s main nuclear sites with long-range bombing sorties, the official told The Sunday Times.
"Amber means get on with your preparations, stand by for immediate attack and tell us when you’re ready," the official said. But the Israelis have also been told that they can expect no help from American forces and will not be able to use US military bases in Iraq for logistical support.
However, it now appears that the report that the U.S. would not allow Israel the use of U.S. bases in Iraq for their attack could be false. The most recent reports are that:
The US has allowed Israeli jets to use US airbases and fly over Iraqi air space for a likely attack against Iran, Iraqi media say. It is more than a month that some Israeli planes belonging to Israeli air force use the US military bases in Iraq to land and take off, Iraqi Nahrainnet news network said Wednesday, quoting informed sources close to Iraq's Defense Ministry.
The activities and traffic of warplanes- especially at nights- has lately increased in the US airbases in Nasiriya southeast of Baghdad and Haditha a city in the western Iraq province of Al Anbar, the Iraqi residents and sources said.
They said the US fighters, cargo planes, helicopters and unmanned planes have intensified their flights in the last three weeks.
The US military officials have imposed severe security measures around the bases, they said.
They said some aircraft suspected to be Israeli warplanes coming from Jordan, have landed in the US controlled al-Assad airbase near Haditha.
It is believed that these activities are parts of a joint Israeli-US training, preparation and coordination to launch an air raid against Iran's nuclear plants.
Israel has issued a one word non-denial, denial: What does "unfounded" mean? Notice that they didn't say "Untrue." Or issue a statement saying that they are NOT training at U.S. bases. It's the weasel wording that confirms this.
The IDF Spokesperson's Office said the Iraqi reports were "unfounded."
Iran's response has been that
The US war plan is madness. Iran has vowed to strike back at Tel Aviv and US interests and shipping in the region if it is attacked, threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz, conduit for about 40 per cent of globally traded oil.
"We do not imagine that anybody would commit such madness and stupidity ... and nobody has the power to make such aggression," state broadcaster quoted Elham as saying.
I'd have to say the Iranians are right about this one. It is madness. But when has Bush/Cheney ever cared about that?
an attack by Israel could send oil prices soaring – sending gas prices into territories never imagined.
"I asked an oil analyst that very question," Engel said. "He said, ‘The price of a barrel of oil: Name your price – $300-$400 a barrel.’"
What would oil at those levels mean? A June 11 Time magazine story by Robert Baer put the price of a gallon of gas at $12 if oil goes to $300 a barrel. In May, Robert Hirsch, Management Information Services Senior Energy Advisor, told CNBC’s "Squawk Box" the oil at those prices could mean $15-a-gallon gas.
Oh, and Obama? Sounds like he supports the whole insanity, for fear of appearing "soft on supporting Israel."