DEJA VU CIRCA 2003. BUSH AND FOX NEWS RATCHET UP RHETORIC FOR GOING TO WAR WITH IRAN
Reported by Deborah - September 2, 2007 -
Guest Blogged by
Bill Corcoran
The general consensus among most reliable pundits on television is President Bush along with his propaganda machine, FOX News, are preparing the American public for going to war with Iran. All this past week, Fox News and their web site have been laying the groundwork for a war with Iran. Here is how they did it:
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned Tuesday that a power vacuum is imminent in Iraq and said that Iran was ready to help fill the gap.
FOXNews.com - President Ahmadinejad Says Iran Ready to Fill Power Vacuum in Iraq - International News | News of the World | M.
"The political power of the occupiers is collapsing rapidly," Ahmadinejad said at a press conference in Tehran, referring to U.S. troops in Iraq. "Soon, we will see a huge power vacuum in the region. Of course, we are prepared to fill the gap, with the help of neighbors and regional friends like Saudi Arabia, and with the help of the Iraqi nation."
Also on Tuesday, the following happened: President Bush on Tuesday continued his push to support his troop surge in Iraq, this time pointing to the possibility of greater influence from neighboring Iran as a reason to make sure Iraq's government succeeds and does not fall into hands of insurgents.
FOXNews.com - Bush to Plead Iraq Case in Connection to Iran Policy - Politics | Republican Party | Democratic Party | Politic.
Iran has developed a new 2,000-pound "smart" bomb, state-run television reported Thursday, the latest in a recent series of announcements heralding new weapons systems. The guided bomb, named Qased or Messenger, can be deployed by Iran's aging U.S.-made F-4 and F-5 fighter jets and will be officially unveiled next week, said the broadcast quoting a Defense Ministry statement.
FOXNews.com - Iran Claims to Have Developed 'Smart' Bomb - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe
Dramatic video produced by Iraqi insurgents and captured in a raid earlier this week by U.S. troops clearly shows a battery of sophisticated Iranian-made rocket launchers firing on American positions east of Baghdad, Pentagon officials said Wednesday.
The video, captured during a raid on Monday by the 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment in northeast Nahrawan, shows insurgents setting up and carrying out an attack on Sunday, as well as an attack on July 11 that killed one soldier and wounded 15 others, officials said. The raid last month appeared to involve 34 launchers firing 107 mm Iranian-made rockets. The video provides clear visual evidence of the extent to which Iraqi insurgents are equipped to launch deadly rockets on coalition forces, the Pentagon said.
FOXNews.com - Captured Video Shows Iraqi Insurgents Firing Sophisticated Iranian-Made Rockets at U.S. Positions - Internation.
Iran has begun industrial-scale production of its first domestically manufactured fighter jet, state-run television reported Monday, part of Tehran's efforts to become militarily self-sufficient. The plane was first tested in 2006 and was derived from the reverse engineered components of U.S. combat aircraft. "The airplane, Azarakhsh, was made by Iranian experts, and it has already reached the industrial production stage," the television quoted Iran's defense minister, Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, as saying. According to previous reports, the Azarakhsh, or Lightning, was designed for close air support.
FOXNews.com - Iran Begins Production of Fighter Jet Based on U.S. Technology - International News | News of the World | Middl.
Some of these Fox News web site (www.foxnews.com) reports found their way into the television news on FOX News as the saber rattling and war drums beat louder and louder for going to war with Iran.
It is deja vu circa 2003. A war weary American public has been lulled into complacency and like the proverbial rattle snake waiting in the weeds with one eye open just looking for the right time to strike, President Bush and FOX News are coiled and ready to unleash an attack on Iran. It is no longer a question of will Bush and the U.S. attack Iran, but when will the Iran attack be launched.
COMMENTS FROM CONSERVATIVE PAT BUCHANAN
Pat Buchanan, who once ran for President and is currently an MSNBC guest commentator, has weighed in on the likelihood of going to war with IRAN.
Has Bush Boxed Himself In? By Pat Buchanan
Has Bush Boxed Himself In? - Yahoo! News
As Americans anguish over how to extricate this country from Iraq without a disaster greater than what we now have, and without our friends suffering the fate of our friends in Cambodia and Vietnam, they had best brace themselves. This escalator is going up.
George Bush and his generals are laying out the case for a new war. And there has been no resistance offered either by a vacationing Congress or the major presidential candidates.
Whether Bush has made the decision to attack the al Quds training camps inside Iran, he has painted himself into a corner.
SUMMARY
Even though General David Petraeus has already stated there is no military solution to the Iraq problem only a political solution, FOX News and especially Brit Hume's "Special Report," have been trumpeting the successes of the "surge" in Iraq. For the better part of four years, FOX News managed to dig up any trivial story to report on rather than the Iraq war because conditions continued to deteriorate in Iraq. But once there were some small military gains in Al Anbar Province, FOX News suddenly found space in their newscasts for reports about the Iraq war.
On the other hand, the General Accountability Office has made the following statement about Iraq:
Report Finds Little Progress On Iraq Goals - washingtonpost.com
Report Finds Little Progress On Iraq Goals
GAO Draft at Odds With White House
Iraq has failed to meet all but three of 18 congressionally mandated benchmarks for political and military progress, according to a draft of a Government Accountability Office report. The document questions whether some aspects of a more positive assessment by the White House last month adequately reflected the range of views the GAO found within the administration. The strikingly negative GAO draft, which will be delivered to Congress in final form on Tuesday, comes as the White House prepares to deliver its own new benchmark report in the second week of September, along with congressional testimony from Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker. They are expected to describe significant security improvements and offer at least some promise for political reconciliation in Iraq. The draft provides a stark assessment of the tactical effects of the current U.S.-led counteroffensive to secure Baghdad. "While the Baghdad security plan was intended to reduce sectarian violence, U.S. agencies differ on whether such violence has been reduced," it states. While there have been fewer attacks against U.S. forces, it notes, the number of attacks against Iraqi civilians remains unchanged. It also finds that "the capabilities of Iraqi security forces have not improved."
And while Iraq still remains a quagmire despite some minor military gains, the Bush White House and their pet mouthpiece FOX News have been setting the table for an air strike and possibly even an invasion of Iran in the very near future. As one wag put it the other day; "the only thing missing from the puzzle is an excuse to go to war with Iran, and it won't take much an excuse."
The war clouds are gathering. We are about see deja vu circa 2003.
BILL CORCORAN, guest blogger.
