In breaking but not surprising news, it was revealed today that Iran is not actually developing nuclear weapons. From the New York Times via truthout.org.
Washington – A new assessment by American intelligence agencies concludes that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and that the program remains on hold, contradicting an assessment two years ago that Tehran was working inexorably toward building a bomb.
The conclusions of the new assessment are likely to be a major factor in the tense international negotiations aimed at getting Iran to halt its nuclear energy program. Concerns about Iran were raised sharply after President Bush had suggested in October that a nuclear-armed Iran could lead to “World War III,” and Vice President Dick Cheney promised “serious consequences” if the government in Tehran did not abandon its nuclear program.
Now before you think that this report will actually end the saber-rattling regarding Iran, please put your dancing shoes back in the closet. The Bush administration has already shifted its justification against Iran by citing Iran’s meddling in Iraq. We are very much not out the woods yet and I would ask for all of my liberal-minded friends to not think that evidence or facts prevail in Bush’s world. Please continue to speak out against war escalation and not just in safe progressive bubbles.
I apologize for being incognito fam. I think the government is trying to shut me down because I have been unable to login to The SuperSpade (for weeks now). Garlin and Steve, thank you for holding me down. In other news, “President Bush says world leaders risk bringing about World War Three if they do not do more to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons.” Are we using WWIII now? This to me is scary because it reminds me of the “mushroom cloud” that Condoleezza Rice often invoked.
This fear mongering by Bush and Co. must be confronted with truth, integrity and reason. I have said before that I am worried that Bush has no intention of leaving office and it is talk like this that reminds me why I feel this way. Seriously, when was the last time you heard of a President enter the lame duck stage of his presidency with so much bravado?
I don’t have any kids but I have been around them enough to know that they have a very short attention span. This reminds me of the Bush administration. An article in WaPo states,
“The United States has decided to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, the country’s 125,000-strong elite military branch, as a “specially designated global terrorist,” according to U.S. officials, a move that allows Washington to target the group’s business operations and finances.” Read the rest of this entry »
This is not a surprise by any means but Bush has a timeline for the Iraq catastrophe. There is a “classified plan, which represents the coordinated strategy of the top American commander and the American ambassador, calls for restoring security in local areas, including Baghdad, by the summer of 2008. ‘Sustainable security’ is to be established on a nationwide basis by the summer of 2009, according to American officials familiar with the document.” Read the rest of this entry »
If you find it hard to read the stories that detail the deaths of soldiers and civilians in Iraq, watch this video. Who in their right mind would continue to support this war? These are humans being sacrificed for perpetual lies. Thanks, Dailykos.
Do you think Bush could be in office past January 20, 2009? I do and so does Bush apparently. An article from Alternet.org reads,
The National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive, signed on May 9, 2007, would place all governmental power in the hands of the President and effectively abolish the checks and balances in the Constitution. Read the rest of this entry »
Now former World Bank President, Paul Wolfowitz said of his departure,“People were reacting to a whole string of inaccurate statements and by the time we got to anything approximating accuracy the passions were around the bend.” That’s funny, as a major architect of the war, that seems to be the same strategy Wolfowitz used to push for war in Iraq by getting the public and media to associate 9/11 with Iraq and exaggerating threats concerning WMDs.
Once those lies were discredited, the Bush administration just came up with new reasons to stay like us having to stay in Iraq to rebuild the government, establish some form of democracy, and fight Al-Qaeda there so we don’t have to fight them here. Sorry Paul, karma is a trip.
After dropping the ball on timelines, I wish the Democrats would have made regular coverage of flag-draped caskets coming from Iraq a requirement for funding the war. The people sacrificed as a result of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are real and the time has long past for the disingenuous policy of putting our lost soldiers out of sight and out of mind.
This will be the type of ignorant but calculating excuse that Bush would use if and when a conflict would breakout with Iran. In the latest development, “the U.S. Navy staged its latest show of military force off the Iranian coastline on Wednesday, sending two aircraft carriers and landing ships packed with 17,000 U.S. Marines and sailors to carry out unannounced exercises in the Persian Gulf.” Read the rest of this entry »
The Democrats in Congress acquiesced to Bush by agreeing to scuttle a timeline for withdrawing the troops. The bill does “include conditions prodding Baghdad to make better progress toward quelling violence or risk losing around $1.3 billion in U.S. reconstruction aid. Bush could waive the provision, however.” Read the rest of this entry »
It takes a lot for most politicians to be explicit about something. Anything. These two are definitely no exception. The strange similarities between Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton’s stances on Iraq continue, but they took a turn for the better yesterday. Instead of dancing around the idea of having a firm date for US troop withdrawal like they did in the past, both of them voted yesterday to set a 31 March 2008 for US troops to be out of Iraq. While it is sad that these two candidates are some of the last to have some Iraq sense knocked into them, this is actually a good sign for anti-occupation efforts.
I don’t know who was first to offer a face-saving way to get out of Iraq but the one I remember distinctly goes like this; if the Iraqi people say they want the US out, we should bring the troops home. This logic always stumped me because it tacitly assumes that we invaded Iraq based on the expressed will of the Iraqi people. The logic spelled says the Iraqi people wanted us to occupy their country so all they have to do is ask us to leave and we’ll go. Now we can put that political rhetoric to the test. Read the rest of this entry »
The top U.S. commander in Iraq says an Iraqi group affiliated with an elite Iranian force carried out an attack last year in which five U.S. soldiers were killed near the Iraqi town of Karbala. The statement by General David Petraeus follows months of suspicion about Iranian involvement in the incident, but the general says he cannot directly connect Iranian agents to the attack.
First of all, if you can’t confirm your claims with evidence, shut up. Do I need to remind you of Colin Powell’s presentation of mobile lab cartoons and the empty vile prop? I am sick and tired of this administration being able to make claims that are passed off as facts but cannot be confirmed.
And seriously, with all of the work that General Patraeus has to do in making the “surge” successful, why are we trying to link Iran to an incident from last year? Maybe if we were more focused on rebuilding Iraq than we were trying to scrimp for reasons to invade Iran, we could bring home the troops. I’m done.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid recently said that the “Iraq war is lost.” I happen to agree with him and I am shocked at how much the truth rattles Washington insiders. Nevertheless, I haven’t really taken time to consider the immediate or future implications for American foreign policy and the geopolitical balance of the Middle East.
There will come a time when our troops come home. But lest we forget, Bush waged preemptive war in our name so once it is “over” it won’t ever be back to normal. People in Iraq, our allies and our enemies resent the arrogance of our actions in Iraq. This resentment will fester for generations to come and I pray that American leaders have the wisdom to foresee the future harm this war is causing.
And with the loss in blood and treasure, I think we have yet to see the true costs of this war. How do you think these costs will be materialized?
It looks like it just might. According to this NY Times article,
nongovernmental organizations and other groups appear to have scored a surprising success in an effort to link the Olympics, which the Chinese government holds very dear, to the killings in Darfur, which, until recently, Beijing had not seemed too concerned about.
Nearly any angle that is used to make headway here is worth pursuing in my mind, so this one is no different.
I have just returned from a vacation trip to Italy, which was absolutely amazing. However, on my way back to Seattle from New York, I had a run-in with my friends from the Transportation Security Administration, and now I’m mad at a bunch of people. “President” George Bush. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff. TSA Director Kip Hawley. LaGuardia Airport General Manager Warren Kroeppel. The TSA Supervisor who was working LaGuardia’s Security at 530 AM Eastern on Wednesday, 11 April 2007.
“President Bush was asked by a reporter in Washington on Tuesday whether the United States would be willing to give up the five Iranians to help obtain release of the Britons.”
“I support the Blair government’s attempts to solve this issue peacefully. So we’re in close consultation with the British government,” he responded. “I also strongly support the prime minister’s declaration that there should be no quid pro quos when it comes to the hostages.”
For clarity, Bush was saying that the U.S. won’t release the Iranian officials in exchange for Iran releasing the British sailors. My fear is that this conflict over the British sailors will be twisted around to serve as a launching pad for starting war with Iran.
About The SuperSpade The SuperSpade: Black Thought at the Highest Level, is a forum that presents critical, intellectual perspectives on the current issues, seeking to elevate the level of Black political thought. The goal of this space is to provide actionable commentary on social, political, and personal issues affecting the ... Continue reading »
