Fighting Hard for Fundamentalism

Back to the Future.

Assuming, of course, the future is the 19th century...

Billmon writes a good piece about how we've managed to serve up Iraq on a silver platter to the Iranian fundamentalists, as I noted here.

Billmon also lifts this passage from the print version of American Conservative (paleocons just don't trust electrons- you can see the article's title under the August 1 Table of Contents "News/Deep Background"):

The Pentagon, acting under instructions from Vice President Dick Cheney's office, has tasked the United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM) with drawing up a contingency plan to be employed in response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States. The plan includes a large-scale air assault on Iran employing both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons.

Within Iran there are more than 450 major strategic targets, including numerous suspected nuclear-weapons-program development sites. Many of the targets are hardened or are deep underground and could not be taken out by conventional weapons, hence the nuclear option. As in the case of Iraq, the response is not conditional on Iran actually being involved in the act of terrorism directed against the United States.

Several senior Air Force officers involved in the planning are reportedly appalled at the implications of what they are doing -- that Iran is being set up for an unprovoked nuclear attack -- but no one is prepared to damage his career by posing any objections.

Bu$hCo is certainly not above setting up a polarizing situation in Iran, getting the Mullahs back into firm control, and then trying to Shock and Awe them into submission. Especially if they can divert attention from their Special Prosecutor problems at home. After all, Fitzgerald's hunting license expires in October, and you can bet whatever wants and warrants he decides to initiate will be taken with all appropriate seriousness by Justice.

Especially if there's a National Security situation at the same time.

Corrente notes a disinformational counterstrike against the Agency building. It's important to note that the CIA has been far from a monolithic entity since Bu$hie stole his election, and probably before that as well. For every honest operative trying to protect the national interests like Valerie Plame, you have obvious Company moles like Porter Goss working in the system.

Then you have Clinton appointees like Tenet was, who did his damn'dest to warn Bu$hCo about both Al Qaeda pre-911 and the fallacy of the Iraqi-WMD story. But after Big Time Dick's multiple visits in 2002 and early '03, Tenet became quite the Bu$hCo enabler.

I guess shares in Halliburton will do that to a man.

Still, despite the PentagramPentagon's assurances they can Shock and Awe their way back into control of the Iraqi-Irani situation, there are bound to be a few analysts that eschew the NeoCon cocaine-laced Kool-Aid. You can count on a few worried heads about the consequences of setting off nukes in the Middle East. You can count on Porter Goss watching these analysts closely, too.