Seymour Hersh has a new piece in “The New Yorker.” And, as he seems to be right more often than any other investigative journalist in America, what he has to say about the Bush administration’s likely plans for Iran are probably worth considering. Following is a clip from the article explaining why, over the past few months, our announced military targets in Iran have been shifting from nuclear research facilities to those connected to the Revolutionary Guard:
…The shift in targeting reflects three developments. First, the President and his senior advisers have concluded that their campaign to convince the American public that Iran poses an imminent nuclear threat has failed (unlike a similar campaign before the Iraq war), and that as a result there is not enough popular support for a major bombing campaign. The second development is that the White House has come to terms, in private, with the general consensus of the American intelligence community that Iran is at least five years away from obtaining a bomb. And, finally, there has been a growing recognition in Washington and throughout the Middle East that Iran is emerging as the geopolitical winner of the war in Iraq…
The bottom line is that Cheney and Bush want to attack Iran, but they know that the nuclear threat angle isn’t working. So, now they’re pitching it a different way. It’s all about the marketing.
Here’s Hersh on CNN:
10 Comments
If all they care about is winning the election and staying in power there’s no reason to think that they won’t go to war in the next year.
I hope I didn’t scare Robert away. I’d hate myself if that were the case. This site just isn’t the same without his special blend of paranoia and rage.
How much have you commented, Fred? I haven’t seen enough to scare me away yet. And I don’t understand the paranoia comment. I thought you were with me in making fun of it. This blog stuff is all too confusing for me.
No one is more confused by this blog than I am.
…And where’s my free enchilada, Robert? You owe me.
And in Robert’s defense, I don’t think it’s paranoia and rage some much as incontinence and nearsightedness.
And Hersh is supposed to be on Fresh Air tomorrow, for those of you who are interested.
Israel today copped to the air raid inside Syria without revealing the target. Their exit route took them over Turkey, which pissed off the Turks no end. Guesses are that Iran was stockpiling arms for Hezbollah at some Syrian base, and Israel would have none of that!
They’ll take care of Iran’s nukes, as well, if necessary. No war, just a lot of toxic smog for that part of the Middle East. (Glad I don’t live in Afghanistan, Pakistan or India … they’re down wind.)
I’m not even a real person, Fred. ‘Robert’ is actually just one of Mark’s many pseudonyms. That’s why he defends me at times and feels so comfortable attacking me so mercilessly at others. My main purpose here is to try to drum up traffic to the site by drawing jackasses into phony ‘debates’ and getting them to post. Mel Ayton was my biggest score so far. You’re small potatoes by comparison.
In case anyone was wondering what happened to Fred…I had him bumped off. It was the only way I could think of convincing him that threats and organized crime is real and plays a role in politics. It was a shame he wasn’t a little more paranoid. He would have seen that coming.
threats is real