The Neo-Con Dog That Isn't Barking
Analysis by Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON, Feb 16 (IPS) - For several weeks now, Washington has been abuzz with rumours that U.S. President George W. Bush is preparing to attack nuclear and other sites in Iran this spring -- rumours deemed sufficiently credible that lawmakers from both parties are hastily preparing legislation precisely to prevent such an eventuality.
The evidence cannot be ignored.
As cited by former CIA officer Philip Giraldi in the most recent edition of American Conservative, Bush's charges that Iran is supplying bombs to Shi'a militias to kill U.S. soldiers in Iraq; the seizure by U.S. forces of Iranian diplomatic and intelligence officials there; the deployment of two aircraft carrier groups with a flotilla of minesweepers to the Gulf; the supply of Patriot anti-missile batteries to Washington's allies in the region; the unprecedented appointment of a navy admiral and former combat pilot as the head of Central Command; the "surge" of as many as 40,000 troops into Iraq; persistent reports of U.S. covert operations inside Iran -- all suggest that Washington is preparing for a military confrontation, and soon.
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Similarly, television ads by the neo-conservative American Foreign Policy Council running on the major cable television networks in the Washington D.C. area at the moment warn the viewer about Iran's nuclear programme, its status as "the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism", and its president's alleged Holocaust denial and threats to "wipe Israel off the map". But they conclude with the relatively anodyne exhortation: "Call the White House and tell them to enforce sanctions against Iran today." Not exactly what one would expect on the eve of a military attack.
This tack may simply be a ruse to lull anti-war forces into complacency. Or it may reflect a fear that, given their record on Iraq, beating the drums for war with Iran may prove counter-productive (although AEI has not hesitated to take credit for the "surge" option). Or it may indicate that prominent neo-cons have somehow lost touch with the hawks in the White House and Cheney's office who are now determined to go to attack Iran this spring.
But it may also reflect the neo-cons' assessment, based no doubt on inside information, that Bush -- who spoke about U.S. policy on Afghanistan at AEI Thursday -- intends to let the diplomatic game play out a little longer, perhaps as long as another year, before deciding to attack. (END/2007)
<more>
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=36604
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