The Next Act - Seymour Hersh

[Strelnikov_]

Cambodia, Laos, Kurdistan, what's in a name.


The Next Act
Is a damaged Administration less likely to attack Iran, or more?

by Seymour Hersh

Issue of 2006-11-27
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/

Another critical issue for Gates will be the Pentagon’s expanding effort to conduct clandestine and covert intelligence missions overseas. Such activity has traditionally been the C.I.A.’s responsibility, but, as the result of a systematic push by Rumsfeld, military covert actions have been substantially increased. In the past six months, Israel and the United States have also been working together in support of a Kurdish resistance group known as the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan. The group has been conducting clandestine cross-border forays into Iran, I was told by a government consultant with close ties to the Pentagon civilian leadership, as “part of an effort to explore alternative means of applying pressure on Iran.” (The Pentagon has established covert relationships with Kurdish, Azeri, and Baluchi tribesmen, and has encouraged their efforts to undermine the regime’s authority in northern and southeastern Iran.) The government consultant said that Israel is giving the Kurdish group “equipment and training.” The group has also been given “a list of targets inside Iran of interest to the U.S.” (An Israeli government spokesman denied that Israel was involved.)

[niceypoo]

1. Iran is phase two of their neocon fantasy.

I am sure they have themselves convinced that Iran's flying monkeys are botching their ill conceived, doomed to fail, plans for Iraq. If they start phase two, the flying monkeys will all go home and the troops in Iraq will be showered with flower pedals and candy as per the original "plan." The middle east will then be reshaped in Bushes image and the joyous middle easterners will build temples to their new found messiah and vice messiah, Bush and Cheney. Ahhh, but they must attack Iran for all this to happen! Yes!! Attacking Iran will solve everything!!!

:nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity:

[spanone]

2. Thanks!

:hi:

[Viva_La_Revolution]

3. I looked for this earlier and couldn't find it...

Thanks loindelrio!

[izzie]

4. I find this very scary. It sounds like one does not know what they are

doing which I also felt before Iraq. I frankly do not think the Nov.7 has change one thing. I have been reading a lot of history of late and I do read a lot about people just like Bush. They are sure they are right and they stick to it. It is bad when they have the power to do it and Bush has two years to do more evil and I put money on he will. I think I re-call that in the middle of Nixon problems he built up the forces. Bush's power will leave us in one hell of a fix. Does not look like any General will do a thing. They all want to keep their rates and if they say anything when they leave they are said to do it because they are mad. Scary business. War with Iran would I would think do us in with the cheaper oil. How will oil get our of the Middle East safe? We get a small percent from the Middle East but what would the other oil countries do? Jack up the price. So oil gets us in the end any how.And all countries that get their oil from the Middle East. I do not even wish to think of the number of people who will be killed in this bloody mess. I guess we will end up with our own Bloody Bush. Good pair off with Cheney.

[Strelnikov_]

5. Really Wanna Be Scared - We Are One Bullet Or SA-7 Or Aneurysm

from this becoming President:



We should all be praying for the Secret Service, and the Chimp.

[kpete]

6. thanks for posting this

I have already read it twice

Each time I find new treasure...

[teryang]

7. There is no central government in Iraq

The US creation of chaos in Iraq has permitted al qaeda to foment sectarian violence by picking cultural targets of special significance to each group.

Shia militants aren't disguised as police, they are the police.

<The White House believes that if American troops stay in Iraq long enough—with enough troops—the bad guys will end up killing each other, and Iraqi citizens, fed up with internal strife, will come up with a solution. It’ll take a long time to move the troops and train the police. It’s a time line to infinity.>

Maliki has nothing to work with, no reliable forces, no consensus, and no security, except what we provide to maintain the fiction that we haven't already totally destroyed the country and its government (which is war crime which i won't go into here).

In order for the shia and sunni factions to reach a political settlement, the Bremer edicts and the US written Iraqi constitution need to be abandoned and the US forces need to withdraw completely. There is no point to training the Iraqi military or police forces, all that does is present further resources to the shia side in a civil war. The US must back the Sunnis as it the only choice which enables them to stand toe to toe with the more numerous Shia, who hold the upper hand in the civil war and ethnic cleansing at this point. US material backing of Sunnis will provide them the power to negotiate at arms length and eject extremist provocateurs such as al qaeda from the formula.

US neocons in their ideological incompetence on behalf of war profiteers and multinational exploitation of middle eastern resources have enhanced the strategic position of Iran, and jeopardized the security of all states in the region. Iraq is in danger of becoming nothing more than a satellite of Iran. The propaganda about Iranian support for the shias in Iraq is false to the extent that the Iranians haven't even begun to provide the kind of military support that they are capable of providing. As the vicious sectarian violence goes on without US forces participating or present, the two sides will be forces to negotiate as one side realizes that it can't overcome the other. Further we are obligated to take this approach to protect the infrastructure west of Iraq.

One reason American leadership can't stomach the above approach (in fact they act as if they are blind to it) is because of their globalist prediliction to take over the Iraqi economy and its resources. The problem with Sunnis is that they are equated with Bathists and Bathists repudiate western control and private control of their resources period as incompatable with legitimacy or sovereignty. Have no doubt that if the Shia prevailed Anglo-US multinationals will be ejected anyway. Hence the self delusional effort to preserve a central government that exists only on paper and caters to US-English economic exploitation (the Bremer edicts). The latter cannot be saved and in that sense the war is lost for those ignorant elites who thought they could win it.

[Strelnikov_]

8. Boy, Couldn't Agree More. Regarding Iranian Involvement, It Goes Back To Sun-Tsu

and the saying regarding "If the enemy is destroying themselves, don't get in the way".

At this stage, they are not going to risk being sanctioned for supporting one side in the Civil War.


The GOP has handed over Iraq to Iran.


Is it time yet to call it treason?

[teryang]

10. They haven't yet given up preserving the puppet government

...which provides cover for globalist economic objectives illegally embodied in Iraqi provisional law written by Americans. Hence, the incumbents say press on to victory and don't yet understand or pretend not to see that the so called Iraqi army and police are little more than subsidies and cover for militia elements. Can a colonial cadre be paid off to achieve western objectives? A corrupt government such as ours believes (wrongly) that anyone can be bought.

Exxon-mobil, Chevron, Harriman, Rockefellor, and Rothschild interests have been around for some time now. Rhodesian colonial adventurism is alive and well in the CFR. They will never admit that their merchantile objectives and political success in Iraq are mutually exclusive ends. They will never admit the success of indigeneous peoples in their determination to preserve sovereignty and defeat western efforts to reimpose colonialism. It's Vietnam all over again. 19th Century colonialism died with WWII.

Comparisons by Cheney and others to giving up on the liberation of Europe after the Nazi invasion are completely misplaced. We are the invaders. We have done the slaughter. Von Clausewitz referred to the importance of moral righteousness in war. We don't have it.

[Fovea]

9. "Israel is giving the Kurdish group “equipment and training.”"

I am trying to imagine Turkey being ok with this.
Only if they think Iran will wipe the floor with the Kurds.

I find this a puzzling development. It has a very low probability of destabilizing Iran, and a respectable chance of starting a conflict with Turkey in the middle of it. On, I might add, the side of Iran. Anybody else think this is a poor idea?