Eisenhower Carrier Group Sails For Iran Theater
http://www.thiscantbehappening.com
By Dave Lindorff
10-9-6

The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Eisenhower and its accompanying
strike force of cruiser, destroyer and attack submarine slipped their
moorings and headed off for the Persian Gulf region on Oct. 2, as I had
predicted in a piece in The Nation magazine a few weeks back.

The Eisenhower strike force, according to my sources, is scheduled to
arrive in the vicinity of Iran around October 21, at the same time as a
second flotilla of minesweepers and other ships.

This build-up of naval power around the coast of Iran, according to
some military sources, is in preparation for an air attack on Iran that
would target not just Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities, but its
entire military command and control system.

While such an attack could be expected to unleash a wave of military
violence all over Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and elsewhere against
American forces and interests and against oil wells, pipelines and
loading vacilities, as well as a mining of the Persian Gulf and the
Strait of Hormuz, with a resulting skyrocketing of global oil prices,
the real goal of this new war by the U.S. would be ensuring Republican
control of the House and Senate.

It seems increasingly clear that the Republican Party is going to lose
its grip on the House of Representatives, and that it may even lose
control of the Senate, barring some dramatic October Surprise by the
president. So far, the surprises have been working against Republicans,
with the Foley sex scandal, the evidence that Abramoff's bribery
reached right into the inner sanctum of the White House, and the
deteriorating U.S. position in Iraq.

With the number of House seats reportedly "in play" now rising from 15
to 30 and now 50, President Bush is looking at the possibility of a
blow out Nov. 7 that could see him facing a Democratic Congress bent on
revenge for five six years of systematic abuse.

Bush has committed a long string of impeachable crimes against the
Constitution, the Republic and the American people--everything from
lying to the Congress and the 9-11 Commission, obstructing an
investigation into the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame, abuse of
power, violation of federal laws like the Foreign Surveillance
Intelligence Act, dereliction of duty and criminal negligence, and war
crimes. He can expect a Democratic Congress to call him to account for
at least some of these crimes, whatever House minority leader Nancy
Pelosi (D-CA) may say today.

This means that the worse things look for Republican chances in
November, the greater the likelihood that a desperate President Bush
will order a disastrous attack on Iran--one that would have the country
enter into a third, even worse, war even as it is currently busy losing
two others. But Bush and his gang of cronies don't care about
initiating a disaster. They're focussed on the disaster that will hit
them if they don't turn around the November election. Sacrificing the
country or its young men and women in uniform, or the lives of innocent
Iranians, is not a concern, any more than it was when Bush ordered the
invasion of Iraq.

Clearly such a war would be an act of madness, and yet we know that the
plans, already drawn up, are being updated and fine-tuned now by
generals and admirals whose twisted sense of patriotism has them giving
primary loyalty to a demented commander in chief instead of to the
Constitutional and the people of the United States, to both of which
they swore an oath to protect.

I hope I am wrong about all this, but the sailing of the Eisenhower,
which had been pushed forward recently by about a month by the Pentagon
for clearly political reasons, makes me think I'm right. A key will be
what happens with the Enterprise carrier strike force, which has
already been on station in the Arabian Sea for six months, where it has
been launching air strikes against Afghanistan and Iraq targets.
Ordinarily, such deployments last six months and then the carrier group
returns to base for resupply and for R&R for the crew. If the
Enterprise is held over for a longer deployment, after the arrival of
the Eisenhower, we will know that something serious is planned.

Meanwhile, journalist Larisa Alexandrovna, in the online publication
Raw Story, reports that top military leaders are already engaging in
"branches and sequels" planning for an Iran attack, which her sources
tell her is the kind of planning that is done "after an initial plan
has been decided upon."

What is deeply troubling here is the total silence on the part of the
Democratic Party opposition. Not one Democrat in Congress, and as far
as I know, not one Democratic candidate for Congress--not even anti-war
insurgent Ned Lamont in Connecticut, has demanded an answer from Bush
and the Pentagon for the obvious military buildup around Iran, or about
published reports that the U.S. already has special forces in side Iran
backing the terrorist organization MEK, and selecting targets for U.S.
bombardment.

If and when the U.S. attacks Iran, leading to a predicable--if
temporar--rallying around the flag by the American public, and to an
upset win by incumbent Republican congressional candidates, Democrats
will have only themselves to blame for the debacle.

But it will be the American people--and especially the people of
Iran--who will be the victims of this treacherous deed and this
treasonous failure of will.

Eisenhower Carrier Group Sails For Iran Theater
http://www.thiscantbehappening.com
By Dave Lindorff
10-9-6

The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Eisenhower and its accompanying
strike force of cruiser, destroyer and attack submarine slipped their
moorings and headed off for the Persian Gulf region on Oct. 2, as I
had predicted in a piece in The Nation magazine a few weeks back.

The Eisenhower strike force, according to my sources, is scheduled to
arrive in the vicinity of Iran around October 21, at the same time as
a second flotilla of minesweepers and other ships.

This build-up of naval power around the coast of Iran, according to
some military sources, is in preparation for an air attack on Iran
that would target not just Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities, but
its entire military command and control system.

While such an attack could be expected to unleash a wave of military
violence all over Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and elsewhere against
American forces and interests and against oil wells, pipelines and
loading vacilities, as well as a mining of the Persian Gulf and the
Strait of Hormuz, with a resulting skyrocketing of global oil prices,
the real goal of this new war by the U.S. would be ensuring Republican
control of the House and Senate.

It seems increasingly clear that the Republican Party is going to lose
its grip on the House of Representatives, and that it may even lose
control of the Senate, barring some dramatic October Surprise by the
president. So far, the surprises have been working against
Republicans, with the Foley sex scandal, the evidence that Abramoff's
bribery reached right into the inner sanctum of the White House, and
the deteriorating U.S. position in Iraq.

With the number of House seats reportedly "in play" now rising from 15
to 30 and now 50, President Bush is looking at the possibility of a
blow out Nov. 7 that could see him facing a Democratic Congress bent
on revenge for five six years of systematic abuse.

Bush has committed a long string of impeachable crimes against the
Constitution, the Republic and the American people--everything from
lying to the Congress and the 9-11 Commission, obstructing an
investigation into the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame, abuse of
power, violation of federal laws like the Foreign Surveillance
Intelligence Act, dereliction of duty and criminal negligence, and war
crimes. He can expect a Democratic Congress to call him to account for
at least some of these crimes, whatever House minority leader Nancy
Pelosi (D-CA) may say today.

This means that the worse things look for Republican chances in
November, the greater the likelihood that a desperate President Bush
will order a disastrous attack on Iran--one that would have the
country enter into a third, even worse, war even as it is currently
busy losing two others. But Bush and his gang of cronies don't care
about initiating a disaster. They're focussed on the disaster that
will hit them if they don't turn around the November election.
Sacrificing the country or its young men and women in uniform, or the
lives of innocent Iranians, is not a concern, any more than it was
when Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq.

Clearly such a war would be an act of madness, and yet we know that
the plans, already drawn up, are being updated and fine-tuned now by
generals and admirals whose twisted sense of patriotism has them
giving primary loyalty to a demented commander in chief instead of to
the Constitutional and the people of the United States, to both of
which they swore an oath to protect.

I hope I am wrong about all this, but the sailing of the Eisenhower,
which had been pushed forward recently by about a month by the
Pentagon for clearly political reasons, makes me think I'm right. A
key will be what happens with the Enterprise carrier strike force,
which has already been on station in the Arabian Sea for six months,
where it has been launching air strikes against Afghanistan and Iraq
targets. Ordinarily, such deployments last six months and then the
carrier group returns to base for resupply and for R&R for the crew.
If the Enterprise is held over for a longer deployment, after the
arrival of the Eisenhower, we will know that something serious is
planned.

Meanwhile, journalist Larisa Alexandrovna, in the online publication
Raw Story, reports that top military leaders are already engaging in
"branches and sequels" planning for an Iran attack, which her sources
tell her is the kind of planning that is done "after an initial plan
has been decided upon."

What is deeply troubling here is the total silence on the part of the
Democratic Party opposition. Not one Democrat in Congress, and as far
as I know, not one Democratic candidate for Congress--not even
anti-war insurgent Ned Lamont in Connecticut, has demanded an answer
from Bush and the Pentagon for the obvious military buildup around
Iran, or about published reports that the U.S. already has special
forces in side Iran backing the terrorist organization MEK, and
selecting targets for U.S. bombardment.

If and when the U.S. attacks Iran, leading to a predicable--if
temporar--rallying around the flag by the American public, and to an
upset win by incumbent Republican congressional candidates, Democrats
will have only themselves to blame for the debacle.

But it will be the American people--and especially the people of
Iran--who will be the victims of this treacherous deed and this
treasonous failure of will.