Just in case you’ve missed it (and the pathetic excuse for a national media in this country is doing it’s level best to make sure that you do):
Part of the “surge” of troops, supposedly to ensure security in Iraq, includes a Patriot Missile battery from Fort Bliss, TX. Patriot Missiles, for those of you who haven’t figured it out already, being somewhat useless in defending against small-arms fire, rocket-propelled grenades, mortar attacks and IEDs….which is what we’re facing in Iraq. They are, however, great for use against intermediate-range ballistic missiles….of which Iran has quite a few.
Second: Bush just appointed Admiral William J. Fallon as General Abizaid’s replacement as head of CENTCOM. Kinda odd that they’ve placed a Naval officer in charge of two ground wars (Afghanistan & Iraq), isn’t it? Even ABC news called the appointment unusual. However, consider Fallon’s resume. He’s a naval flight officer. He flew combat missions in Vietnam, commanded an A-6 Intruder squadron, a carrier air wing and an aircraft carrier. As a three-star, he commanded Second Fleet and Strike Force Atlantic. Any operation against Iran will be a combined air and naval bombardment.
Third: Bush is moving another carrier strike group into the Persian Gulf. Because, as you know, Aircraft Carriers and their battle groups are notoriously effective against insurgents.
Are you seeing it now?
This was almost the topic of today’s rant for me, but I went with sticking links in Olbermann’s list instead.
I feel exactly the way I did in the lead-up to the attack on Iraq: Bush is going to do what he wants and damn everyone else, no matter who they are. No amount of pressure in the form of petitions, protests, or op-ed pieces is going to be even a road bump for him. He knows exactly what he wants to do and he’s going to do it. I’m beginning to doubt that even Congress could stop him.
I’m fairly certain that the phrase “Constitutional Crisis” is going to become the political catchphrase of the next two years.
Here’s hoping “impeach” is included in the terminology thrown about.
D.
and the doomsday clock is moving fwd to seven minutes to midnight.
If the whole executive branch weren’t so complicit in all this, I’d suggest Amendment XXV, Section 4. “24” Season 2 (and to a lesser extent Season 4) illustrated it very nicely.
…and after he moves 150k troops from Iraq into Iran, he can truthfully say he got the troops out of Iraq quickly.
Saw it before … these facts are just making it a tad scarier …
But for a historical gulf, I would ask if this Mad King George and another one of memory were merely separated at birth.
Sounds very “Cuban Missile Crisis” to me, except the phrase “stand down” is in neither Bush nor Ahmadinejad’s vocabularies.
And yet…
“..except the phrase “stand down” is in neither Bush nor Ahmadinejad’s vocabularies.”
And yet Ahmadinejad seems the most reasonable to deal with.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6274147.stm
“Iran offered the US a package of concessions in 2003, but it was rejected, a senior former US official has told the BBC’s Newsnight programme.
Tehran proposed ending support for Lebanese and Palestinian militant groups and helping to stabilise Iraq following the US-led invasion.
Offers, including making its nuclear programme more transparent, were conditional on the US ending hostility.
But Vice-President Dick Cheney’s office rejected the plan, the official said. “