BBC exclusive: Plan for Iran attack broader than expected [VIDEO]

[seemslikeadream]

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/48281/

The official kickoff to the Attack Iran '07™ campaign launched last week with the three Anony-mice asserting connections between Iranian leadership and the insurgency in Iraq.

When the folly of that connection -- not to mention the folly of the assertion itself -- was revealed, Bush was forced to step back and blame the messenger.

Now, BBC reports (video upper right) that the plan of attack on Iran goes far beyond the expected disruption of nuclear capabilities to include "most of the country's military infrastructure," much of which is dangerously close to population centers. The plan, they note, is rapidly evolving and significant movement is being made in that direction. Nothing new there. But, as many have noted, something alarming was mentioned (second one below):

According to the BBC story:

"the trigger for such an attack reportedly includes any confirmation that Iran was developing a nuclear weapon - which it denies."


"Alternatively, our correspondent adds, a high-casualty attack on US forces in neighbouring Iraq could also trigger a bombing campaign if it were traced directly back to Tehran."

[MnFats]

1. well that's just f*****g great! Will Bush now get a chance to ..

...use those small tactical bunker buster nukes he was so high on a while back?

"you want to develop nukes, huh? We'll show you nukes!"

[seemslikeadream]

2. ONLY WAY OUT FOR BUSH IS WAR WITH IRAN

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_allen_l__070220_only_way_out_for_bus.htm


" Either man is obsolete or war is. War is the ultimate tool of politics. Political leaders look out only for their own side. Politicians are always realistically maneuvering for the next election. They are obsolete as fundamental problem-solvers:" R. Buckminster Fuller

The only way Bush can avoid a humiliating failure in Iraq and the inevitable investigations is to find a pretense to attack Iran, knock out their nuclear facilities, inflame the Middle East in violence and claim he did it to protect America as well as Israel.



War is the ultimate tool of politics and the Cheney/Bush administration will continue to use it unless Congress takes it away from them. The handwriting is on the wall for I predict that the present surge in Iraq will soon create a high casualty attack on U.S. forces ( who are being used as pawns ) which will then be blamed on an Iranian connection ~ thus instituting the trigger for a preemptive attack on Iranian military and nuclear facilities.

BBC news carried America's attack plan for Iran on last nights news but it wasn't even mentioned on the Jim Lehrer News

[walldude]

5. Yeah apparently their irony meter is broken...

among other things...

[Joe for Clark]

3. That is just smart - I surely do not favor attacking Iran -

But if we did - we better be prepared to do a lot more than hit "nuclear sites" - a lot more.

I wouldn't worry about Iran so much - there are big problems facing us from the north right now.

Immediate problems.

IMO - Joe

[bananas]

14. Canada?

[hang a left]

I think he is talking about Russia.

Would be nice if the poster would expound on the danger.

[bananas]

19. I think he's talking about northern Baghdad or northern Iraq

I was joking about Canada.

[Joe for Clark]

15. Oh, Bananas - come on.

It is just that if you are really going to attack anyone - make sure they can't come back at you.

Not right - just smart.

Joe

[bananas]

16. Sorry. nt

[Joe for Clark]

17. Don't be sorry - you have something to say - you say it.

You don't ever have to agree with me. You say what you think and that is fine.

Joe

[bananas]

18. It doesn't matter how hard we hit Iran.

We can't stop the attacks in Iraq, we won't be able to stop attacks from Iran.
And Iran won't limit itself to attacking us in Iraq.

If we just hit Bushehr and a few other places, Iran might respond with just a few terrorist attacks.
If we hit them harder, they will retaliate harder.

[C_U_L8R]

4. The Brits are no fools.

They're getting the hell outta Dodge before Bush lights the place up

[seemslikeadream]

6. if America provoked Iran enough by arresting key military figures inside Iraq

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6378765.stm

Some take a middle position - arguing that the talk of war is a bluff - a means to pressure Iran. But they concede there is a possibility of an accidental war if Iranian Revolutionary Guards, for example, retaliated against US forces in Iraq.

They compare the situation to the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers last summer by Hezbollah in Lebanon which triggered the war there.

The argument is that if America provoked Iran enough by arresting key military figures inside Iraq then their colleagues might be tempted to take revenge and perhaps kidnap US soldiers which would provide an excuse for air strikes on Iran.

[seemslikeadream]

7. An Accident Waiting to Happen

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=92431&d=20&m=2&y=2007

One of the most disturbing things is the way the new US Defense Secretary Bob Gates keeps insisting his country has absolutely no plans to attack Iran.

Dan Plesch, one of Britain’s leading commentators on defense and security doesn’t believe him. “American military operations for a major conventional war with Iran could be implemented any day,” says Plesch.

[seemslikeadream]

8. Will the United States attack Iran?

Many remember that there was a U.S. military buildup in the Gulf during the autumn of 2002 and the first months of 2003 and that the U.S. attack on Iraq followed in March. Is something similar underway now?

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/02/19/opinion/edblix.php

[Joe for Clark]

9. I think you really need to understand - Iranians have been

picked up as far back as 2003 - at least in Mosul.

This is not new - it is just being sold that way.

The tibes that live on the east Iraq border - west Iranian border - they go back centuries.

Their families are intermarried - they know nothing about British boundries imposed in the 20th century.

This is not as it is being sold - at all.

Joe

[seemslikeadream]

10. I understand way more than you think

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 ComingSun 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 NowTue 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 1Mon Sep-18-06
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=2161779

Pentagon Iran Office Mimics Former Iraq OfficeWed 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 ResignsTue 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 IraqSun 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 NationTue Dec-19-06
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=2948146

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


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 youve 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 cant 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

[Joe for Clark]

11. I hope so.

Joe

[seemslikeadream]

12. I just edited my post

:hi:

[Joe for Clark]

13. I don't know why that appeared as a reply to me.

Admittedly - I am about as dumb as you get in this internet thing. And a bad typist.

I don't know how to to that smilely thing you do - I don't know - and I'd like to some day.

Doesn't matter.

The way we find a truth is for all of us to say what we think - all of us. I will fight to my death for you to speak - and I don't have to agree with you. I believe in my heart that has to happen now -it is very late in the day now for us. We better start talking.

If there is something I needed to see - please tell me what I missed.

Thanks,

Joe

[GreenZoneLT]

20. OK, so what does this actually mean?

The surface, that the BBC somehow got a scoop about secret US military plans, is not what's actually happened. Somebody, apparently at the State department, deliberately leaked this to them. Now, did they do that as an official disinformation campaign, as a form of sabre rattling with plausible deniability, or is it part of infighting between Rice and Gates?

It's possible that a disaffected, high-level Statey leaked it, but not likely. This is most likely a deliberate information ops campaign by the Bushies. Not sure what they're trying to accomplish, but judging by the past, they're ever so likely to screw it up.

The surface news, that the Pentagon has detailed plans for a strike against Iran, is a major "No duh." The Pentagon has detailed plans for strikes against EVERYBODY. That's what the Pentagon's there for. The news comes when they actually start implementing a plan. There's no real evidence of that happening yet (an extra carrier is not much of an indication).

[seemslikeadream]

21. Iran - Ready to attack

http://www.sandersresearch.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1130

Iran - Ready to attack
By Dan Plesch - NewStatesman
Feb/20/2007
American military operations for a major conventional war with Iran could be implemented any day. They extend far beyond targeting suspect WMD facilities and will enable President Bush to destroy Iran's military, political and economic infrastructure overnight using conventional weapons.

British military sources told the New Statesman, on condition of anonymity, that "the US military switched its whole focus to Iran" as soon as Saddam Hussein was kicked out of Baghdad. It continued this strategy, even though it had American infantry bogged down in fighting the insurgency in Iraq.

The US army, navy, air force and marines have all prepared battle plans and spent four years building bases and training for "Operation Iranian Freedom". Admiral Fallon, the new head of US Central Command, has inherited computerised plans under the name TIRANNT (Theatre Iran Near Term).

The Bush administration has made much of sending a second aircraft carrier to the Gulf. But it is a tiny part of the preparations. Post 9/11, the US navy can put six carriers into battle at a month's notice. Two carriers in the region, the USS John C Stennis and the USS Dwight D Eisenhower, could quickly be joined by three more now at sea: USS Ronald Reagan, USS Harry S Truman and USS Theodore Roosevelt, as well as by USS Nimitz. Each carrier force includes hundreds of cruise missiles.

Then there are the marines, who are not tied down fighting in Iraq. Several marine forces are assembling, each with its own aircraft carrier. These carrier forces can each conduct a version of the D-Day landings. They come with landing craft, tanks, jump-jets, thousands of troops and, yes, hundreds more cruise missiles. Their task is to destroy Iranian forces able to attack oil tankers and to secure oilfields and installations. They have trained for this mission since the Iranian revolution of 1979.