From: Johnny Asia <poki_pongo at yahoo.com>
The US war with Iran has already begun
By Scott Ritter
Sunday 19 June 2005,
Americans, along with the rest of the world, are starting to wake up
to the uncomfortable fact that President George Bush not only lied to
them about the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq (the ostensible
excuse for the March 2003 invasion and occupation of that country by
US forces), but also about the very process that led to war.
On 16 October 2002, President Bush told the American people that "I
have not ordered the use of force. I hope that the use of force will
not become necessary."
We know now that this statement was itself a lie, that the president,
by late August 2002, had, in fact, signed off on the 'execute' orders
authorising the US military to begin active military operations inside
Iraq, and that these orders were being implemented as early as
September 2002, when the US Air Force, assisted by the British Royal
Air Force, began expanding its bombardment of targets inside and
outside the so-called no-fly zone in Iraq.
These operations were designed to degrade Iraqi air defence and
command and control capabilities. They also paved the way for the
insertion of US Special Operations units, who were conducting
strategic reconnaissance, and later direct action, operations against
specific targets inside Iraq, prior to the 19 March 2003 commencement
of hostilities.
President Bush had signed a covert finding in late spring 2002, which
authorised the CIA and US Special Operations forces to dispatch
clandestine units into Iraq for the purpose of removing Saddam Hussein
from power.
The fact is that the Iraq war had begun by the beginning of summer
2002, if not earlier.
This timeline of events has ramifications that go beyond historical
trivia or political investigation into the events of the past.
It represents a record of precedent on the part of the Bush
administration which must be acknowledged when considering the ongoing
events regarding US-Iran relations. As was the case with Iraq
pre-March 2003, the Bush administration today speaks of "diplomacy"
and a desire for a "peaceful" resolution to the Iranian question.
But the facts speak of another agenda, that of war and the forceful
removal of the theocratic regime, currently wielding the reigns of
power in Tehran.
As with Iraq, the president has paved the way for the conditioning of
the American public and an all-too-compliant media to accept at face
value the merits of a regime change policy regarding Iran, linking the
regime of the Mullah's to an "axis of evil" (together with the newly
"liberated" Iraq and North Korea), and speaking of the absolute
requirement for the spread of "democracy" to the Iranian people.
"Liberation" and the spread of "democracy" have become none-too-subtle
code words within the neo-conservative cabal that formulates and
executes American foreign policy today for militarism and war.
By the intensity of the "liberation/democracy" rhetoric alone,
Americans should be put on notice that Iran is well-fixed in the
cross-hairs as the next target for the illegal policy of regime change
being implemented by the Bush administration.
But Americans, and indeed much of the rest of the world, continue to
be lulled into a false sense of complacency by the fact that overt
conventional military operations have not yet commenced between the
United States and Iran.
As such, many hold out the false hope that an extension of the current
insanity in Iraq can be postponed or prevented in the case of Iran.
But this is a fool's dream.
The reality is that the US war with Iran has already begun. As we
speak, American over flights of Iranian soil are taking place, using
pilotless drones and other, more sophisticated, capabilities.
The violation of a sovereign nation's airspace is an act of war in and
of itself. But the war with Iran has gone far beyond the
intelligence-gathering phase.
President Bush has taken advantage of the sweeping powers granted to
him in the aftermath of 11 September 2001, to wage a global war
against terror and to initiate several covert offensive operations
inside Iran.
The most visible of these is the CIA-backed actions recently
undertaken by the Mujahadeen el-Khalq, or MEK, an Iranian opposition
group, once run by Saddam Hussein's dreaded intelligence services, but
now working exclusively for the CIA's Directorate of Operations.
It is bitter irony that the CIA is using a group still labelled as a
terrorist organisation, a group trained in the art of explosive
assassination by the same intelligence units of the former regime of
Saddam Hussein, who are slaughtering American soldiers in Iraq today,
to carry out remote bombings in Iran of the sort that the Bush
administration condemns on a daily basis inside Iraq.
Perhaps the adage of "one man's freedom fighter is another man's
terrorist" has finally been embraced by the White House, exposing as
utter hypocrisy the entire underlying notions governing the ongoing
global war on terror.
But the CIA-backed campaign of MEK terror bombings in Iran are not the
only action ongoing against Iran.
To the north, in neighbouring Azerbaijan, the US military is preparing
a base of operations for a massive military presence that will
foretell a major land-based campaign designed to capture Tehran.
Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld's interest in Azerbaijan may have
escaped the blinkered Western media, but Russia and the Caucasus
nations understand only too well that the die has been cast regarding
Azerbaijan's role in the upcoming war with Iran.
The ethnic links between the Azeri of northern Iran and Azerbaijan
were long exploited by the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and this
vehicle for internal manipulation has been seized upon by CIA
paramilitary operatives and US Special Operations units who are
training with Azerbaijan forces to form special units capable of
operating inside Iran for the purpose of intelligence gathering,
direct action, and mobilising indigenous opposition to the Mullahs in
Tehran.
But this is only one use the US has planned for Azerbaijan. American
military aircraft, operating from forward bases in Azerbaijan, will
have a much shorter distance to fly when striking targets in and
around Tehran.
In fact, US air power should be able to maintain a nearly 24-hour a
day presence over Tehran airspace once military hostilities commence.
No longer will the United States need to consider employment of Cold
War-dated plans which called for moving on Tehran from the Persian
Gulf cities of Chah Bahar and Bandar Abbas. US Marine Corps units
will be able to secure these towns in order to protect the vital
Straits of Hormuz, but the need to advance inland has been eliminated.
A much shorter route to Tehran now exists - the coastal highway
running along the Caspian Sea from Azerbaijan to Tehran.
US military planners have already begun war games calling for the
deployment of multi-divisional forces into Azerbaijan.
Logistical planning is well advanced concerning the basing of US air
and ground power in Azerbaijan.
Given the fact that the bulk of the logistical support and command and
control capability required to wage a war with Iran is already forward
deployed in the region thanks to the massive US presence in Iraq, the
build-up time for a war with Iran will be significantly reduced
compared to even the accelerated time tables witnessed with Iraq in
2002-2003.
America and the Western nations continue to be fixated on the ongoing
tragedy and debacle that is Iraq. Much needed debate on the reasoning
behind the war with Iraq and the failed post-war occupation of Iraq is
finally starting to spring up in the United States and elsewhere.
Normally, this would represent a good turn of events. But with
everyone's heads rooted in the events of the past, many are missing
out on the crime that is about to be repeated by the Bush
administration in Iran - an illegal war of aggression, based on false
premise, carried out with little regard to either the people of Iran
or the United States.
Most Americans, together with the mainstream American media, are blind
to the tell-tale signs of war, waiting, instead, for some formal
declaration of hostility, a made-for-TV moment such as was witnessed
on 19 March 2003.
We now know that the war had started much earlier. Likewise, history
will show that the US-led war with Iran will not have begun once a
similar formal statement is offered by the Bush administration, but,
rather, had already been under way since June 2005, when the CIA began
its programme of MEK-executed terror bombings in Iran.
Scott Ritter is a former UN weapons inspector in Iraq, 1991-1998, and
author of Iraq Confidential: The Untold Story of America's
Intelligence Conspiracy, to be published by I B Tauris in October
2005.
+
"As democracy is perfected, the office of president
represents, more and more closely, the inner soul
of the people. On some great and glorious day the
plain folks of the land will reach their heart's
desire at last and the White House will be adorned
by a downright moron." --- H.L. Mencken (1880 - 1956)
"Ignorance is an evil weed, which dictators may cultivate among their
dupes, but which no democracy can afford among its citizens."
- William H. Beveridge, 1944
"The power of accurate observation is called cynicism
by those who have not got it." - G. B. Shaw
Want to know what's really going on in Iraq?
http://www.angelfire.com/co/COMMONSENSE/wakeup.html
The Rise and Fall of the Holy Roller Empire
The God-Awful Truth about Christian Zionism
http://www.angelfire.com/co/COMMONSENSE/armageddon.html
NOTICE: This post contains copyrighted material the use of which has
not
always been authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such
material
available to advance understanding of political, human rights,
democracy, scientific, and social justice issues. I
believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107
.
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: The US War with Iran has already begun - Scott Ritter |
20 Jun 2005 04:07:05 AM |
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As usual, Ritter makes some good points, but I have two questions: (1)
Where's Bush going to get the cannon fodder to invade Iran with; and
(2) Is the rest of the world (particularly Russia and China, which have
lots of business deals with Iran) just going to sit back as Bush goes
on another murderous imperial rampage?
Grantland wrote:
From: Johnny Asia <poki_pongo at yahoo.com>
The US war with Iran has already begun
By Scott Ritter
.
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| User: "=?iso-8859-1?q?Wally_Lorne=99?=" |
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| Title: Re: The US War with Iran has already begun - Scott Ritter |
20 Jun 2005 04:14:02 AM |
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(1) The Draft coming in 2006 to an army recruitment center near
U...Also US has sold bunker busting bombs to their (U-know-who) buddies
in the ME
(2) Russia has Sunburn missiles programmed not to miss a certain little
country in the ME -- should just an occassion arise !!!
HOOROO ;-)
UNCLE WALLY ;-)
.
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: The US War with Iran has already begun - Scott Ritter |
20 Jun 2005 05:25:36 AM |
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Bush is fast losing political support. It really looks to me like
things are starting to go against him. So unless things start really
going his way in Iraq, I can't see them trying to draft anyone for more
illegal war.
With regard to the bunker busting bombs, I don't see what good that
will do for anyone. To the extent Iran has a clandestine nuke program
or any nuke program, I'm sure much of it is secret, redundant, well
dispersed, and very well protected.
It seems to me that nothing less than a full scale invasion will put a
dent in any nuke program of any kind.
Wally Lorne=99 wrote:
(1) The Draft coming in 2006 to an army recruitment center near
U...Also US has sold bunker busting bombs to their (U-know-who) buddies
in the ME
(2) Russia has Sunburn missiles programmed not to miss a certain little
country in the ME -- should just an occassion arise !!!
=20
HOOROO ;-)
=20
UNCLE WALLY ;-)
.
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| User: "=?iso-8859-1?B?07/SIFVycyBpbiBIb2xlZSBXb25kZXIg07/S?=" |
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| Title: Re: The US War with Iran has already begun - Scott Ritter |
19 Jun 2005 09:20:06 PM |
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Do you live in Africa?
.
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| User: "Grantland" |
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| Title: Re: The US War with Iran has already begun - Scott Ritter |
19 Jun 2005 09:27:40 PM |
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"=?iso-8859-1?B?07/SIFVycyBpbiBIb2xlZSBXb25kZXIg07/S?="
<laytonville@saber.net> wrote:
Do you live in Africa?
Is the Pope Catholic?
.
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