Coming War with Iran

The story of Bush's march towards war with Iran is not allowed in US corporate media, but we can piece much of it together already. Developments are coming fast and furious but here's the latest.

First lets examine the goals of BushCo. second term. The first neo-con article focused on foreign policy to appear since the "mandate" comes from prominent PNAC co-founder, Frank Gaffney. Gaffney outlines a 7 point plan for the second Bush plan, starting with the pacification of Fallujah (now underway) then moves to "regime change" for Iran and possibly N. Korea...it goes on. Here's the article appearing in National Review and commentary at Antiwar.com.

So Iran is next on the table after Fallujah. What the World knows is that the US is working behind the scenes to force the IAEA to refer Iran to the UN Security Council when the IAEA meets at the end of November. Because the World has already seen that Bush feels it's enough just to "bring" debate to the UNSC(see what happened regarding Iraq where Bush relied on an inspection resolution and NOT a use of force resolution to justify his attack on Iraq) the World is working to prevent the matter making it to the UNSC. To that end, talks are ongoing between the EU and Iran in order to short-circuit the US's plan.

The good news: Iran, France, Britain, and Germany appear to have reached agreement over Iran's nuclear program. The IAEA is set to meet in Vienna on November 25th and believed ready to report Iran to the UNSC for violations. The Iran-EU letter of understanding hopes to prevent this, but has yet to be ratified and must be approved by the respective countries formally. Terms are not being made public but the linked article reports, off the record, they were informed under the agreement Iran would halt their uranium enrichment program in exchange for EU provided nuclear fuel for use in power plants. Aljazeera.Net - Breakthrough in Iran-EU nuclear talks

Aside from the EU diplomacy, China and Russia have both come out in recent days publically in support of Iran. To cement the friendships, Iran has announced the signing of contracts with both countries. Sat Nov 6, China and Russia against Iran being dealt with before Security Council. Monday, Nov 8, China and Iran announce oil/gas deal. Iran signs deal to send spent nuclear fuel to Russia, will be signed "second half of December."

Where does that leave matters? The EU talks and signals from China and Russia were are all shots across the bow; attempts to prevent Bush from creating a war with Iran. In this climate, Gaffney's article is clear indication where the Bush team stands: America is going to take over Iran come hell or hight water. Chatter in Washington is that pre-emptive strikes on Iran are coming. However, in a what has to be a minor set-back for Bush, the British came out on Thursday saying:

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw on Thursday that any attack on Iran would be ``inconceivable.'' In a message meant for Washington and for countrymen nervous about joining yet another war, Straw added: ``I don't see any circumstances in which military action would be justified against Iran, full stop.''

And just in case you're still not sure if this is all very likely the Sydney Morning Herald is also weighing in on the coming conflict.

The very latest from Washington, on the Post's Monday's A21 page(war with Iran important? phhhhlease, we have 20 pages of more important stories) report on the latest news of EU-Iran agreement. Big shocker, but whadya know, the Bush admin doesn't like the deal, even though we're supposed to believe "war is always the last option."

I wonder when Sharon will get the go ahead to hit Iran to start things off?