Is it a coincidence that the following have occurred in recent weeks?

[Blackhatjack]

Bush Administration announces it will list the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as terrorists.

The 'War Czar' announces that we should take a look at the draft, and it has always been on the table.

Bush says Iraq is like Vietnam, and we should not leave.

The White House will be writing Gen Petraeus' report on the progress of 'the surge.'

Bolton says he hopes we attack Iran in the next six months.

Pro-war tv ads are running on television.

Generals actually speak to the press and say we cannot sustain the present operations past early Spring, we don't have the troops to send.

Rove resigns from office and Cheney does not.

And Repub Pres Candidate Guiliani makes even more threatening gestures about America's use of force in the world than Bush.

Bombings in Iraq are killing Iraqis at all time highs.


What can we deduce from these events? Are they related?

[pnwmom]

1. Thanks for putting it all together, Blackhatjack.

And now I will go . . .:puke:

[seemslikeadream]

2. On to Iran

Prelude to an Attack on Iran "There will be an attack on Iran." ROBERT BAER
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=1625957

The Long String of “Coincidences” on Our Road to War and its Cover-up
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=1634369

Reply #33: Beating Louder on Iran Bush's War Drums
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=125&topic_id=165702&mesg_id=170402

Bolton: I ‘Absolutely’ Hope The U.S. Will Attack Iran In The Next ‘Six Months’
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=1640855

Former CIA Officer: US to Attack Iran Within 6 Months
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=1633512

Iranian helicopter downed in Iraq
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=1621191

Kurds flee homes as Iran shells villages in Iraq
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=1621227

Read Chris Floyd: "Project Management: Bushists Through the Looking-Glass on Iran Charges"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=1616482

This will be my last post in the foreseeable future about the coming attack on Iran
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=1601993

Michael Ledeen's Dangerous Iran Obsession
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=1612651

Worth a mention. JoeforClark? was worried about the Kurds,
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=1604939

Cheney urging strikes on Iran: McClatchy Newspapers
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=1573102

Of Chertoff, Cheney, Radioactive Trucks and Tinfoil...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=1556240

S. commander says Iraqi cleric Sadr in Iran
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=1560971

A New Tactical Twist in the Coming War on Iran
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=1562014

Bush Cheney launch coordinated campaign to pin Iraq's troubles on IRAN
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=1554535

After Propagating False Iraq Intel, NYT’s Michael Gordon Now Echoing Bush Claims On Iran
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=1544525

Iran Promotes US War with Turkey
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=1463997

B-2s being fitted for Bunker Buster Bomb - FOR IRAN???
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=1414759

Kurdish officials in northern Iraq say they fear a full-scale invasion
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=1411790

U.S. Funding Armed Groups to Overthrow Iranian Government:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1603806

[stop the bleeding]

6. Jeebuz SLaD

you are a walking archive of news

[seemslikeadream]

9. When you know that you've seen it before

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFowNFvmUxw

I've been waiting for something to happen
For a week or a month or a year
With the blood in the ink of the headlines
And the sound of the crowd in my ear
You might ask what it takes to remember
When you know that you've seen it before
Where a government lies to a people
And a country is drifting to war

And theres a shadow on the faces
Of the men who send the guns
To the wars that are fought in places
Where their business interest runs

On the radio talk shows and the t.v.
You hear one thing again and again
How the u.s.a. stands for freedom
And we come to the aid of a friend
But who are the ones that we call our friends--
These governments killing their own?
Or the people who finally can't take any more
And they pick up a gun or a brick or a stone
There are lives in the balance
There are people under fire
There are children at the cannons
And there is blood on the wire

Theres a shadow on the faces
Of the men who fan the flames
Of the wars that are fought in places
Where we can't even say the names

They sell us the president the same way
They sell us our clothes and our cars
They sell us every thing from youth to religion
The same time they sell us our wars
I want to know who the men in the shadows are
I want to hear somebody asking them why
They can be counted on to tell us who our enemies are
But they're never the ones to fight or to die
And there are lives in the balance
There are people under fire
There are children at the cannons
And there is blood on the wire




Bush's Inconceivable Interest in Iran Sat Apr-01-06
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=819437

Senior U.S. Officials “Want to Hit Iran” Tue Apr-04-06
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=844418

Larisa Alexandrovna: CHENEY TAPS IRANIAN ARMS DEALER FOR IRAN TALKS Thu Apr-20-06
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=977234

Seymour Hersh said something startling about Rumsfeld on Democracy Now Fri Aug-18-06
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=1936421

So former DLC, PNAC member Abram Shulsky feeding Cheney info on Iran? Sat Aug-19-06
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=1944614

Fuck. Iran has started "war games." Escalation may only be expected. Sun Aug-20-06
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=1949812

Attack on Iran is Coming Sun Aug-27-06
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=1993284

"Grave threat". Yes, it's deja vu all over again. Thu Aug-31-06
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=2022620

UN attacks US nuclear report on Iran erroneous misleading unsubstantiatedSun Sep-17-06
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=2159951

We Are Conducting Military Operations Inside Iran Right Now Tue Sep-19-06
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=2168218

Navy told: Prepare to blockade Iran by Oct 1 Mon Sep-18-06
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=2161779

Pentagon Iran Office Mimics Former Iraq Office Wed Sep-20-06
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=2179484

“This is the largest massing of military power in the region, and it is gathering for a reason.” Sat Nov-18-06
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=2753952

Seymour Hersh: Cheney Says 'Whether Or Not Dems Win-NO STOPPING Military Option With Iran' Sun Nov-19-06
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=2757350

Does anyone still believe the US will launch a full scale invasion of Iran? Mon Dec-04-06
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=2856177

Saudi clerics rally support for Sunnis and Saudi ambassador Abruptly Resigns Tue Dec-12-06
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=2902643

Act III in a Tragedy of Many Parts - The US Occupation of Iraq Sun Dec-17-06
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=2935498

Century Foundation Iran White Paper Series Fundamentalists, Pragmatists and the Rights of the Nation Tue Dec-19-06
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=2948146

Oh shit Tue Dec-19-06
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=2944423

[stop the bleeding]

14. great song

thank you as always

[pepperbear]

3. and don't forget the "we need another 9/11" rhetoric, and the "fisa debate will kill Americans"...

meme. yeah, I feel these "coincidences" are a little too uncanny.

[azurnoir]

4. One more from earlier today

This DU thread http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1647826

[Blackhatjack]

11. Oh my.... did he really say that? Sure sounds like they are preparing us for an attack on Iran....

[Double T]

5. The bushco propaganda machine is on nitrous oxide..........

as THEY prepare to attack Iran to divert attention away from ALL the bushco failings and disasters.

[Individualist]

7. Two more "coincidences"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1650150&mesg_id=1650150

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1651590

[Wiley50]

8. Don't Forget "Troops Are Being Deployed to DC" and " They're Putting Up Checkpoints on Every On and

off ramp on I-64 in VA.

My guess it all will come to a head
either right before or on 9/11

We've only got 2 or three weeks left folks

Shit is hitting the fan

What are we gonna do about it?

As for me, I'm stuck.

I have no resources to even run

[Bennyboy]

10. Hey that is when The Big Brother Final is

going to be on! I think I'll watch that! New TV season coming too.....

[Wiley50]

13. Yeah BennyBoy, You're Gonna Be Seeing Big Brother All Right

In your face, up close and in person

[blues90]

15. Why are they putting check points on the I-64 ?

[Mr Rabble]

21. I think you mean I66.

There are police and/or military stationed all over the place in the DC area. There is something going on.

[hang a left]

30. any links or webcams I can gander at?? nt

[Blackhatjack]

12. I continue to be amazed at the fine work done here at DU to keep us all informed...

No tin foil hat required to just make a list of these items and ask what the chances are that they would occur at this particular time.

Something is up, and I believe we will soon know what it is.

[H2O Man]

16. Bush also spoke

about Cambodia. The significance should be clear.

[Mr Rabble]

23. That is a good point.

It couldn't be more obvious. This is just the sort of symbolism that *'s speech writers are known for.

[lovuian]

17. let me add Iranian troops positioning on the Kurds side of Iraq

Turks wanting to attack Kurds part of Iraq

Maliki going to Syria and opening the pipeline

Hilary wanting Mailiki removed

16 intelligence reports due on how Iran is a bad bad nation

Bush brings troops in Iraq

Military depression
what if you knew the war wasn't ending it was escalating
and you were stuck in it for years

[seemslikeadream]

18. CIA said to step up operations against Iran as hawks seek to tie Iraq bombs to Tehran

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Eyeing_strike_Bush_Administration_shifts_Iran_0824.html


‘They still need a trigger,’ former official says

In an effort to build congressional and Pentagon support for military options against Iran, the Bush administration has shifted from its earlier strategy of building a case based on an alleged Iranian nuclear weapons program to one invoking improvised explosive devices (IEDs) purportedly manufactured in Iran that are killing US soldiers in Iraq.

According to officials – including two former Central Intelligence Agency case officers with experience in the Middle East – the administration believes that by focusing on the alleged ties between IEDs and Iran, they can link the Iranian government directly to attacks on US forces in Iraq.

The US military has provided credible evidence that the specialized IEDs known as explosively formed penetrators (EFPs), which have been killing US troops in Iraq, appear to have been manufactured in Iran. Intelligence and military officials caution, however, that there is nothing tying the weapons directly to the Iranian government, nor is there a direct evidentiary chain of custody linking the IEDs to Iran.

“There is clear evidence that someone in Iran is manufacturing the EFPs,” said a source currently working with military and intelligence joint operations in the Middle East, who wished to remain anonymous due to the sensitive nature of the topic. “They have a distinctive signature. These devices are being used against US troops, Sunnis, and even some Shi'as.”

“This is viewed by some in the Bush Administration as sufficient justification for taking military action against Iran,” the source concluded.

Nearly half of all fatalities and serious injuries among US forces in Iraq are caused by IED attacks, including 43% of US casualties in Iraq this month.




EFPS ARE MADE IN IRAQ BY IRAQIS

THOSE WHO BLAME IRAN ARE LIARS

[seemslikeadream]

19. Turkey's Foreign Minister Gül lends support to Iran’s anti-PEJAK operation in Iraq

http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=120351

Gül lends support to Iran’s anti-PEJAK operation in Iraq

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül voiced support for a possible cross-border operation by neighboring Iran into Iraq to fight a wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) there, saying countries have the right to defend their borders.


Some 2,000 families have reportedly fled mountainous northeast Iraq due to the Iranian shelling and have taken shelter in tents outside the mountainous zone. One resident said they left their village after PEJAK members told them there would be massive clashes in the region soon.
"Unfortunately, terrorists have the ability to operate in Iraq's north due to a power vacuum in Iraq," Gül told a press conference after talks with Iraqi Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi in Ankara after he was asked to comment on reports that Iran was preparing for an incursion into Iraq. "They pose a threat to Turkey as well as to other neighbors. Therefore, every country has the right to defend its borders and take legitimate measures for its own security," he said

News reports on Iraqi Kurdish Web sites and Turkish agencies said Iran's army crossed the border into neighboring Iraq and shelled the Kandil Mountain located in northern Iraq, where PEJAK, the Iranian wing of the PKK, has camps.

Iranian troops penetrated five kilometers into Iraqi territory causing massive material damage, the Anatolia news agency said yesterday. Similar reports were released by Iraqi Kurdish Web sites on Thursday, which quoted local officials in the region as saying Iran has launched a "full-scale war."

PEJAK terrorists are hiding in mountain shelters amid intensive shelling by the Iranian army against the group's bases on Kandil Mountain and the Hajj Umran area, Anatolia said. Some 2,000 families fled the region due to the shelling and took shelter in tents they set up outside the mountainous zone.

[defendandprotect]

20. The big question is what will we all do if they attack Iran -- ?????? ????

Meanwhile, I think there is a thread now -- new -- that says the CIA is working to seek bombing of Iran supposedly supply lines to Iraq????? Was that it??

[bobthedrummer]

22. Also Bradley Schlozman and Wan Kim both resigned from DoJ. n/t

[bobthedrummer]

32. "BREAKING: AGAG's interim replacement-Cedarburg's own Paul D. Clement"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=186x21683#21964

on edit:
IMPEACH CHENEY FIRST!!!

[KoKo]

24. Odd that statement from Virginia about it's installing Hurricane Gates on I-64

I haven't seen them on the NC Coast around Cape Hatteras, Wrightsville or down in SC around Charleston or Hilton Head.

Since both SC and NC have been hit by hurricanes more than Hampton Roads, Va in the past 15 or so years why would Virginia set up evactuation measures for Hampton Roads? :shrug: Do they feel a hurricane is going to strike there this year? How would they know...and why would SC and NC be so lax as to not have these hurricane barricades installed? I remember when I-26 was reversed a few years ago and it caused major problems with tie ups for miles with folks stuck in their cars in Ga & SC with evacuation. Why Hampton Roads, Va."

Link to Virginia Site where they explain this all...and it comes off sounding kind of strange.

http://www.virginiadot.org/travel/hurricane_gates.asp

[slipslidingaway]

25. Kick. Have the top 3 Dem candidates all said Iran is the

greatest threat? I know at least one has made this statement.

[bobthedrummer]

26. .

[warren pease]

27. A few more dots... (long)

The Patriot Acts I and II and the Military Commissions Act, all the pieces are in place to install a pure fascist dictatorship if reaction to the Iran attack causes millions to take to the streets. Below are links to the presidential directives that create the excuses and provide the blueprint for a national security state, an excerpt from a particularly odious provision within each of them, and articles or blog postings explaining their significance.

This is the most recent, from July 17, and sanctions property and liquid asset seizure for pretty much anyone BushCo deems a pain in the ass. Here's the text of the directive:

How to legally steal your stuff
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/07/20070717-3.html


Here's some particularly awful parts:

"(c) the term "United States person" means any United States citizen, permanent resident alien, entity organized under the laws of the United States or any jurisdiction within the United States (including foreign branches), or any person in the United States.

(B) undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq or to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people.

Sec. 5. For those persons whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order who might have a constitutional presence in the United States, I find that, because of the ability to transfer funds or other assets instantaneously, prior notice to such persons of measures to be taken pursuant to this order would render these measures ineffectual. I therefore determine that for these measures to be effective in addressing the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13303 and expanded in Executive Order 13315, there need be no prior notice of a listing or determination made pursuant to section 1(a) of this order.

And here’s comment on what this actually means in real life:

Criminalizing the anti-war movement
http://www.inteldaily.com/?c=172&a=2839


The following is a link to two earlier directives, signed May 9, 07, both of which provide the framework and excuses for implementing martial law (which is what declaring a national state of emergency means to these swine). Note that Bush is to be the sole guarantor of the continuance of Constitutional law under these conditions, and that he’s the only one who gets to define what constitutes grounds for declaring a state of emergency.

Lock up the usual suspects
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/05/20070509-12.html


A couple of looks behind the curtain:

“(b) "Catastrophic Emergency" means any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions;

“(18) The Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall provide secure, integrated, Continuity of Government communications to the President, the Vice President, and, at a minimum, Category I executive departments and agencies.”

“(6) The President shall lead the activities of the Federal Government for ensuring constitutional government.

Comment on this blueprint for totalitarianism includes this article detailing the rise of fascism under Bush:

Imperialism and fascism are on the rise in the USA
http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_2143.shtml


This one is specific to the DHS and National Security directives:

Bush anoints himself ensurer of Constitutional government in emergency
http://progressive.org/mag_wx051807


And this one deals with fabricated “terrorist” attacks as pretext for nuking Iran:

Bush directive for a "catastrophic emergency" in America: Building a justification for waging war on Iran?
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=6134


Then mix in a little Operation Noble and TopOff coming in October and it would be difficult to come up with too many innocent conclusions. (See my post # 69 on this thread: http://tinyurl.com/2kmg5l).

I think we're about to reach the tipping point and, unless the congressional demos suddenly discover that they'll be swept under the bus along with everybody else unless they act NOW to impeach Cheney, then Bush, they'll spend the rest of their useless lives wondering how they could have missed the signs that any reasonable person would have been happy to spell out for them.


wp

[bobthedrummer]

28. Model State Emergency Health Powers Act/MEPHA (Feb. 2002)-kick

IMPEACH CHENEY FIRST

[warren pease]

31. Wow! Never even heard of that one before...

... And the amazing thing is, it pisses off both the ACLU *and* the Heritage Foundation -- for the exact same reasons. If you can get two such disparate organizations to agree that this is bad for civil liberties, you have to conclude that they're probably right.

Heritage critique here: http://www.heritage.org/Research/HomelandSecurity/HL748.cfm

ACLU critique here: http://www.aclu.org/privacy/medical/14857res20020101.html

Even lunatic misogynist Phyllis Schlafly thinks it's a lousy idea: http://www.eagleforum.org/column/2002/mar02/02-03-27.shtml


One thing I can't find is current status of these various bills in state legislatures. Last list I saw of which states introduced, passed or rejected a MEPHA bill is from 2003. Do you have an up-to-date link on state-by-state status?

Also, thanks a lot for bringing this up.


wp

[RainDog]

29. also this thread

which I would have missed except for serendipity. things like this should have more informative subject headers

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1657357

In a meeting with the West Los Angeles Democratic Club on Saturday, May 5, Presidential candidate and Ohio Congress Representative Dennis Kucinich revealed that the Democrats in Congress had made some secret concessions to the Republicans in the initial Bill to continue funding the Iraq War that was vetoed, and in a subsequent version that is currently being negotiated. They include:

Privatization of Iraq’s Oil – in the original Bill, but not shared with the public. A rule was created that said this clause could not be removed during debate on House floor.
Bush could invade Iran without approval of Congress. A clause that would require him to get approval from Congress first was removed.

Timetable for troop withdrawal from Iraq to be removed from Bill (in post-veto version)
more...

---

Have to keep everyone on board the war train...