BUSH Is Hiding The Ball On Iran - By Robert Parry

[kpete]

Bush Is Hiding the Ball on Iran

By Robert Parry
February 2, 2007


George W. Bush is again guiding the nation toward a preemptive war – this time with Iran – without allowing anything like a full debate of the underlying facts, probable consequences of the conflict or peaceful alternatives.


Bush is following the same course he chose in the run-up to war in Iraq: he insists that war is “a last resort” yet puts in motion the engines of war; he times the release of alarming intelligence reports for maximum political effect; he brushes aside doubts and warnings; he then presents war as unavoidable or a fait accompli.

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Congress and the major U.S. news media appear to be taking Bush at his word that he is not planning to bomb Iran, although he has dispatched two aircraft carrier strike groups to the region, deployed Patriot anti-missile missile batteries, has British mine sweepers in place, and accuses Iranian agents of helping to kill American troops in Iraq.

This wishful disbelief around Washington that a wider war is looming remains steadfast even as Israeli officials call Iran’s nuclear program an “existential threat” and reportedly train their pilots for bombing runs against Iran’s heavily fortified nuclear facilities.

Yet, instead of front-page stories about the dangers of an expanded war in the Middle East or an examination of alternative strategies that might be tried, the major U.S. newspapers act as if nothing is happening.

more at:
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2007/020207.html