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Stop the Ride, Please

Let me off!

Because there just can't be enough instability in the world, the Bush Administration has authorized covert ops against Iran, with the aim of overthrowing the government there. ABC News broke this story yesterday, and it's the sort of thing that should end Bush's presidency. Check out the story here.

The CIA has received secret presidential approval to mount a covert "black" operation to destabilize the Iranian government, current and former officials in the intelligence community tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com.

The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the subject, say President Bush has signed a "nonlethal presidential finding" that puts into motion a CIA plan that reportedly includes a coordinated campaign of propaganda, disinformation and manipulation of Iran's currency and international financial transactions.

"I can't confirm or deny whether such a program exists or whether the president signed it, but it would be consistent with an overall American approach trying to find ways to put pressure on the regime," said Bruce Riedel, a recently retired CIA senior official who dealt with Iran and other countries in the region.

You won't be surprised to find out that Iran-Contra figure Elliott Abrams has both arms in this, right up to the elbows.

Wow. Now, I assumed that there were all sorts of covert ops in progress WRT Iran, but this constitutes proof. You also can safely assume that the Iranians were, if not aware of these programs, certainly under the impression that the US would engage in these and other black ops. So the mad dance around the Persian Gulf continues.

However, if you really wanna know why this is so disheartening (which is a fancy way of saying "we're fucked"), look at the comments people have left regarding this story. Start with the first one:

If it was a secret, it isn't any longer. I will turn off ABC News and never watch again.

I consider ABC News Traders to the United States

Posted by: David Reid | May 22, 2007 6:36:30 PM

Whoa. That's pretty ballsy, to call them out for being Traders. And people said there wouldn't be any adverse effects from the systematic de-funding of public schools.

The lion's share of the rest of the comments are along similar lines, and only occasionally display correct grammar.

So let's wrap up. The US has authorized covert ops aimed at destabilizing another country's government. Someone lets ABC know about this story. ABC News, doing what it's supposed to do, tells the public about this program. And many people react by condemning the organization that broke the story. I guess that's a case of shooting the messenger. Sigh. Stop the ride, please.

So It's Come to This

It was only a matter of time, really. Funny how they've really obviated satire.

US considers use of nuclear weapons against Iran

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The administration of President George W. Bush is planning a massive bombing campaign against Iran, including use of bunker-buster nuclear bombs to destroy a key Iranian suspected nuclear weapons facility, The New Yorker magazine has reported in its April 17 issue.

The article by investigative journalist Seymour Hersh said that Bush and others in the White House have come to view Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a potential Adolf Hitler.

"That's the name they're using," the report quoted a former senior intelligence official as saying.

A senior unnamed Pentagon adviser is quoted in the article as saying that "this White House believes that the only way to solve the problem is to change the power structure in Iran, and that means war."

The former intelligence officials depicts planning as "enormous," "hectic" and "operational," Hersh writes.

One former defense official said the military planning was premised on a belief that "a sustained bombing campaign in Iran will humiliate the religious leadership and lead the public to rise up and overthrow the government," The New Yorker pointed out.

In recent weeks, the president has quietly initiated a series of talks on plans for Iran with a few key senators and members of the House of Representatives, including at least one Democrat, the report said.

One of the options under consideration involves the possible use of a bunker-buster tactical nuclear weapon, such as the B61-11, to insure the destruction of Iran's main centrifuge plant at Natanz, Hersh writes.

But the former senior intelligence official said the attention given to the nuclear option has created serious misgivings inside the military, and some officers have talked about resigning after an attempt to remove the nuclear option from the evolving war plans in Iran failed, according to the report.

"There are very strong sentiments within the military against brandishing nuclear weapons against other countries," the magazine quotes the Pentagon adviser as saying.

The adviser warned that bombing Iran could provoke "a chain reaction" of attacks on American facilities and citizens throughout the world and might also reignite Hezbollah.

"If we go, the southern half of Iraq will light up like a candle," the adviser is quoted as telling The New Yorker.

I used to watch Dr. Strangelove and laugh.

Now it seems that General Buck Turgidson is calling the shots in D.C.

Christ. Are you people who voted for Bush happy now? Happy with your fucking tax cut and with the fact that gay people, who couldn't get married before, still can't get married? Happy that no one's getting blown in the Oval Office? Are you, you fuckers?

Ever think that maybe, just maybe putting religious fanatics, tax-cut zealots, and neo-con idiots at the levers of power might have been a bad idea? You didn't?

Well thanks, Bush voters. We really fucking appreciate the gift.

UPDATE: Via This Modern World, we have the link to the New Yorker article by Hersh referenced in the above Yahoo story.

King George's Folly

I've liked Barbara Tuchman's The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam ever since I first read it. It's more approachable than, say, her examination of the start of the First World War (The Guns of August) or her in-depth exploration of The Zimmermann Telegram. Of course, one can marvel at the folly of the European heads of state in 1914 and 1916, but the first book contains the better overall account, I think.

Naturally, that look at folly has never been far from my mind when considering the current misadventure in Iraq--or the looming debacle over Iran. It would seem that I have some company in this respect. Digby at Hullabaloo points us to Arthur Silber's Once Upon a Time..., where Mr. Silber is kind enough to illustrate clearly the folly of our current foreign policy honchos.

It's well worth your time, as is Dr. Tuchman's book. I can loan it to you, if you'd like.