US Generals ‘Will Quit’ If Bush Orders Iran Attack

US Generals ‘Will Quit’ If Bush Orders Iran Attack:
From the Sunday Times. UK and British Intelligence:
"Tension in the Gulf region has raised fears that an attack on Iran is becoming increasingly likely before President George Bush leaves office. The Sunday Times has learnt that up to five generals and admirals are willing to resign rather than approve what they consider would be a reckless attack.

“There are four or five generals and admirals we know of who would resign if Bush ordered an attack on Iran,” a source with close ties to British intelligence said. “There is simply no stomach for it in the Pentagon, and a lot of people question whether such an attack would be effective or even possible.”

A British defence source confirmed that there were deep misgivings inside the Pentagon about a military strike. “All the generals are perfectly clear that they don’t have the military capacity to take Iran on in any meaningful fashion. Nobody wants to do it and it would be a matter of conscience for them."

Bomb Bomb Iran video

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3851426890212250833

Thanks to te Beach Boys for inspiration on this own.

'Two Quagmires' looks at hard lessons of war

'Two Quagmires' looks at hard lessons of war: "Hard-learned lessons from Vietnam were formally outlined in a doctrine set forth by Caspar Weinberger, Secretary of Defense under President Ronald Reagan, in 1984. Weinberger said the six conditions for the use of force are that U.S. vital interests must be at stake, there must be a clear commitment to victory, political and military objectives must be made clear, military forces must be of the proper size, public and congressional support must be secured and force must be the last resort.

Campbell writes that those lessons were applied, even in the Persian Gulf War under President George H.W. Bush, but were discarded by neo-conservatives in the current administration of President George W. Bush as they pressed for a war of choice, rather than necessity, in Iraq."

Cold Turkey -- In These Times

Cold Turkey -- In These Times:
That refreshing old curmudgeon Kurt Vonnegut talks about the Sermon on the Mount and the beatitudes amongst other things:

"How about Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes?

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. …

And so on.

Not exactly planks in a Republican platform. Not exactly Donald Rumsfeld or Dick Cheney stuff.

For some reason, the most vocal Christians among us never mention the Beatitudes. But, often with tears in their eyes, they demand that the Ten Commandments be posted in public buildings. And of course that’s Moses, not Jesus. I haven’t heard one of them demand that the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, be posted anywhere.

“Blessed are the merciful” in a courtroom? “Blessed are the peacemakers” in the Pentagon? Give me a break!"

Palestine Chronicle - Anthony DiMaggio: Who are the Useful Idiots?

Palestine Chronicle - Anthony DiMaggio: Who are the Useful Idiots?:
The answer here is the media who obviously "informed" some of our speakers at the recent VFP event Iraq Vets Speak Out. The article describes the term they used "Islamofascism" thus:
"Aside from the systematic misrepresentations of Islam, we should also note that any equation of Islamism with Fascism represents more of a racist scare tactic than an exercise in legitimate intellectual thought. The notion that Islamism and Nazism are somehow interrelated is, to put it simply, fraudulent. As American journalist Eric Margolis explains: 'There is nothing in any part of the Muslim World that resembles the corporate fascist states of western history…The Muslim world is replete with brutal dictatorships, feudal monarchies, and corrupt military-run states, but none of these regimes, however deplorable, fits the standard definition of fascism. Most, in fact, are America's allies.' "

COMANCHE COUNTY DEMOCRAT: THE PRESIDENT'S BUDGET SHORTCHANGES OUR NATION'S VETERANS

COMANCHE COUNTY DEMOCRAT: THE PRESIDENT'S BUDGET SHORTCHANGES OUR NATION'S VETERANS: "The Bush Administration often talks about its support for our troops yet it continues to fall short of its commitment to caring for our service members when they return home.

The President's proposed funding level for VA medical care is not sufficient to meet the needs of veterans and would attempt to levy unjust health care fees on many veterans, in an effort to help balance the budget. "

Crooks and Liars » Jon Stewart Asks Bush to Clarify Iran Accusations

Crooks and Liars » Jon Stewart Asks Bush to Clarify Iran Accusations
Hilarious! Bushes court jester strikes again!

TomPaine.com - Breakdown At The Iraq Lie Factory

TomPaine.com - Breakdown At The Iraq Lie Factory: "Like the incompetents who couldn’t organize a two-car funeral, the remaining Iran war hawks in the administration held a briefing in Baghdad on Sunday to present alleged evidence that Iran is masterminding the insurgency in Iraq. But it was a comedy of errors that convinced no one. Twice, at least, the administration had earlier postponed or canceled the much-promoted event, designed to reveal the supposed secrets behind Iran’s actions in Iraq. When it was finally held, it was not in Washington, but in Baghdad, with not a single White House official, no U.S. diplomat, no State Department official, no CIA official and no one from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Instead, a couple of anonymous military officers held a background-only briefing, barring cameras and tape recorders, to present some blurry photographs of bomb-looking things—and not a shred of evidence of Iranian government involvement."

Not Supporting Our Troops - New York Times

Not Supporting Our Troops - New York Times: "How do you explain to the thousands of American troops now being poured into Baghdad that they will have to wait until the summer for the protective armor that could easily mean the difference between life and death?"

Leaked Letter Reveals GOP Strategy: Talk About Anything But Escalation | TPMCafe

Leaked Letter Reveals GOP Strategy: Talk About Anything But Escalation | TPMCafe: "House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer's office has obtained a letter that GOP Reps. John Shadegg and Peter Hoekstra sent out to House GOP colleagues about escalation. The letter gives GOP members pointers on how they should approach the battle over it on the House floor this week.

Hoyer's office has now posted the letter on his Web site, and it lays bare the GOP's strategy for dealing with debate over the House's anti-escalation resolution and reveals just how worried party leaders are about having a genuine discussion about the 'surge.' "

Pentagon Caught Red Handed in an attempt to Frame Iran: Iran Does Not Manufacture 81MM Mortar Shells

Pentagon Caught Red Handed in an attempt to Frame Iran: Iran Does Not Manufacture 81MM Mortar Shells: "Pentagon carelessness fabricating bogus “evidence” against Iran is really quite stupendous. As I wrote here yesterday, the 81mm mortar shell offered up to the complaisant corporate media as “evidence” Iran is supplying weaponry to the Shi’a of Iraq is an obvious ruse, as the date on the proffered shell does not follow the Muslim calendar and other markings are in English when it only makes sense they would appear in Persian script."

Informed Comment

Informed Comment
Juan Cole on the new set of lies destined to take us into Iran.

Why We need to bring Our troops home

The video link shown here will take you on a harrowing trip through Baghdad in a Humvee that constantly bumps other vehicles in traffic to move them out of the way. There are lots of ways you could critique this incident: You could blame the GIs for their rough treatment of the innocent Iraqi civilians that get in their way. You could blame the Iraqi "terrorist" insurgents for "forcing" the GIs to treat everyone as their enemy. But in reality neither party has control of this situation and they are both trying to make the best of it by surviving and/or defending their country from an occupying force.

The real responsibility needs to be put squarely into the lap of the American government that put these troops in this situation in the first place. The government that continues to claim it "spreads democracy" by putting troops on the ground in Iraq. The video shows the real result of US troops in Iraq: the continued deterioration of our relationship with the entire Middle East and the continued endangerment of our troops for no good reason.

What this video also illustrates clearly is why we need to Bring these Troops Home Now because our military presence is destroying any chance Iraq has to build a new society and the experiences we are forcing our young people to live through are taking away the chance for many of them to ever live a normal life if they survive.

The responsibility for this is now on the Bush Administration to start acting like grownups and admit they were wrong and on Congress to not sidestep their opportunity to stop this debacle by refusing to continue funding it at the cost of our childrens health and future.

AlterNet: ForeignPolicy: How to Prevent a War with Iran

AlterNet: ForeignPolicy: How to Prevent a War with Iran