Seymour Hersh: "I Don't Know What Can Stop Him Because He Is President"

[kpete]

HERSH: You know, I have been writing the same story for a year, sort of like I would call up my friends and say, it is Chicken Little, you know, the sky is falling, in the last year.

And now, obviously, it seems to be much more serious. It is much more intent. My own instinct is, Wolf, that this president is not going to leave office without doing something about Iran. And he could always negotiate, it is always on the table. And he keeps on refusing to negotiate. He keeps on saying he will not. And he keeps on talking tough. And maybe we just have to really listen to what he is saying. And I don’t know what can stop him because he is president.

more at:
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/02/25/hersh-far-along-iran/

[wicket]

1. K & R

:kick:

[Spazito]

2. Listening to Hersh on Blitzer this morning, his tone of voice

made my blood run cold near the end of the interview. It was one of urgency, grave concern about what he knows, he only put part of what he knows in the article. I have listened to Hersh before and have NEVER heard him sound the way he did this morning. It was very alarming, imo.

[WiseButAngrySara]

5. Someone else on DU commented on this this morning. ....n/t

[rodeodance]

10. i trust Hersh. scary (your memo).

No, i did not catch him. thanks.

[WiseButAngrySara]

3. Thanks for the link. I had CNN on this am and missed his

interview but do have his recent article which was posted on DU earlier. Scary stuff.
http://www.newyorker.com/printables/fact/070305fa_fact_hersh

[Rosemary2205]

4. k and r

[rodeodance]

6. i feel the same way---We had the elections where i really thought there

would be change, but really-----what change IS there?

He does what he wants-----sure, he hits a few bumps here and there but in the end-----there is no De-estulation!!!!!!!

[rodeodance]

7. K and R

[Name removed]

8. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[WillyT]

9. I Know What Can Stop Him...

Impeach Cheney, arrest Rove, Impeach Bush...

Something along those lines.

:shrug:

K & R!!!

:kick:

[Rosa Luxemburg]

11. Checks and balances

The constitution has provision in that Congress can stop him

[madrchsod]

15. they won`t stop him

they don`t matter anyway because god to him to destroy the unbelivers

[rodeodance]

12. US denies 24-hour bombing plan for Iran (The Age)

posted on Du also:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x285920

Sun Feb-25-07 12:44 PM
Original message
US denies 24-hour bombing plan for Iran

Edited on Sun Feb-25-07 12:45 PM by nam78_two
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/us-denies-24hour-bo...


US denies 24-hour bombing plan for Iran
February 26, 2007

DESPITE the Bush Administration insisting that it does not intend to go to war with Iran, a Pentagon panel has been created to plan a bombing attack that could be implemented within 24 hours of getting the go-ahead from President George Bush.

The special planning group was established in the office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in recent months, according to an unidentified former US intelligence official cited in the latest issue of The New Yorker magazine by investigative reporter Seymour Hersh.

The panel initially focused on destroying Iran's nuclear facilities and on regime change but has more recently been directed to identify targets in Iran that may be involved in supplying or aiding militants in Iraq, according to an air force adviser and a Pentagon consultant, who were not identified.

The consultant and a former senior intelligence official said that US military and special-operations teams had crossed the border from Iraq into Iran in pursuit of Iranian operatives.

In response to the report, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said: "The United States is not planning to go to war with Iran. To suggest anything to the contrary is simply wrong, misleading and mischievous.

"The United States has been very clear with respect to its concerns regarding specific Iranian Government activities. The President has repeatedly stated publicly that this country is going to work with allies in the region to address those concerns through diplomatic efforts," Mr Whitman said.

Pentagon officials say they maintain contingency plans for literally dozens of potential conflicts around the world and that all plans are subject to regular and ongoing review.

The article, citing unnamed current and former US officials, also said the Bush Administration received intelligence from Israel that Iran had developed an intercontinental missile capable of delivering several small warheads that could reach Europe.

It added the validity of that intelligence was still being debated.

The article also included an interview conducted in December with Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah, who said that while he had no interest in initiating another war with Israel, he was anticipating and preparing for another Israeli attack sometime this year.

Sheikh Nasrallah also said he was open to talks with Washington if such discussions "can be useful and influential in determining American policy in the region," but they would be largely a waste of time if the purpose was to impose policy.

>>

More at link.

[rodeodance]

13. Here is Hersh article referred to in Think Progress:

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/070305fa_fact_hersh

THE REDIRECTION

Is the Administration’s new policy benefitting our enemies in the war on terrorism?

by SEYMOUR M. HERSH
Issue of 2007-03-05
Posted 2007-02-25

A STRATEGIC SHIFT

In the past few months, as the situation in Iraq has deteriorated, the Bush Administration, in both its public diplomacy and its covert operations, has significantly shifted its Middle East strategy. The “redirection,” as some inside the White House have called the new strategy, has brought the United States closer to an open confrontation with Iran and, in parts of the region, propelled it into a widening sectarian conflict between Shiite and Sunni Muslims.

To undermine Iran, which is predominantly Shiite, the Bush Administration has decided, in effect, to reconfigure its priorities in the Middle East. In Lebanon, the Administration has coöperated with Saudi Arabia’s government, which is Sunni, in clandestine operations that are intended to weaken Hezbollah, the Shiite organization that is backed by Iran. The U.S. has also taken part in clandestine operations aimed at Iran and its ally Syria. A by-product of these activities has been the bolstering of Sunni extremist groups that espouse a militant vision of Islam and are hostile to America and sympathetic to Al Qaeda.

One contradictory aspect of the new strategy is that, in Iraq, most of the insurgent violence directed at the American military has come from Sunni forces, and not from Shiites. But, from the Administration’s perspective, the most profound—and unintended—strategic consequence of the Iraq war is the empowerment of Iran. Its President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has made defiant pronouncements about the destruction of Israel and his country’s right to pursue its nuclear program, and last week its supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on state television that “realities in the region show that the arrogant front, headed by the U.S. and its allies, will be the principal loser in the region.”

After the revolution of 1979 brought a religious government to power, the United States broke with Iran and cultivated closer relations with the leaders of Sunni Arab states such as Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. That calculation became more complex after the September 11th attacks, especially with regard to the Saudis. Al Qaeda is Sunni, and many of its operatives came from extremist religious circles inside Saudi Arabia. Before the invasion of Iraq, in 2003, Administration officials, influenced by neoconservative ideologues, assumed that a Shiite government there could provide a pro-American balance to Sunni extremists, since Iraq’s Shiite majority had been oppressed under Saddam Hussein. They ignored warnings from the intelligence community about the ties between Iraqi Shiite leaders and Iran, where some had lived in exile for years. Now, to the distress of the White House, Iran has forged a close relationship with the Shiite-dominated government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. .......

[rodeodance]

here are the RE-direction operations-cheney, Abrams, etc

......The key players behind the redirection are Vice-President Dick Cheney, the deputy national-security adviser Elliott Abrams, the departing Ambassador to Iraq (and nominee for United Nations Ambassador), Zalmay Khalilzad, and Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi national-security adviser. While Rice has been deeply involved in shaping the public policy, former and current officials said that the clandestine side has been guided by Cheney. (Cheney’s office and the White House declined to comment for this story; the Pentagon did not respond to specific queries but said, “The United States is not planning to go to war with Iran.”)

The policy shift has brought Saudi Arabia and Israel into a new strategic embrace, largely because both countries see Iran as an existential threat. They have been involved in direct talks, and the Saudis, who believe that greater stability in Israel and Palestine will give Iran less leverage in the region, have become more involved in Arab-Israeli negotiations.

The new strategy “is a major shift in American policy—it’s a sea change,” a U.S. government consultant with close ties to Israel said. The Sunni states “were petrified of a Shiite resurgence, and there was growing resentment with our gambling on the moderate Shiites in Iraq,” he said. “We cannot reverse the Shiite gain in Iraq, but we can contain it.”

“It seems there has been a debate inside the government over what’s the biggest danger—Iran or Sunni radicals,” Vali Nasr, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, who has written widely on Shiites, Iran, and Iraq, told me. “The Saudis and some in the Administration have been arguing that the biggest threat is Iran and the Sunni radicals are the lesser enemies. This is a victory for the Saudi line.”

[madrchsod]

14. bush wants to attack a country that---

has free elections
has just voted for a moderation of policy
is actually controlled by religious capitalists...

carter,reagan,bush1,and clinton all set policies that contained russia and eventually led to cooperation on many important issues but it only took 7 years bush for to resurrect the cold war. russia is not going to take an invasion of iran lightly,especially with bush ringing russia with missile sites. with in the next few years russia is going to be the biggest producer of the precious juice in the world, that`s when it`s going to get really interesting

first bombing iran back to the 20`s then next is imtimadation of russia.... impeachment is off the table..

[Tom Rinaldo]

16. Vets are organizing against an Iran war

and they need all of our help to help spread the message. Please, if you have not already done so, visit http://www.stopiranwar.com / and join in the effort. New features are still being added to the site and the campaign is just starting. Right now you can leave your own recorded message at the site and/or sign petitions to your members or Congress and/or to the President. It also has software that sets it up for you to write letters to your local newspapers if you just fill in your zip code.

Most important though they are asking everyone to help spread the word across the net about this effort. The hour is late.

[GeorgeGist]

17. American 'Democracy'...

what a scam.

[The Backlash Cometh]

18. Does anybody doubt now that Cheney and his Energy meeting buddies used

the language, "you will do business with us and we'll give you a carpet of gold, and if not we'll send you a carpet of bombs?" when they talked to the Taliban? Does anybody doubt that Bush and Cheney have inappropriately used their government positions to advance private interests in the oil business?

[Canuckistanian]

19. If only there was a way to get rid of a president

Maybe there's something in the Constitution about how to do it.

I'm at a loss here. (:sarcasm:)