Don't pop the champagne corks yet. An attack on Iran is not

[chieftain]

off the table. If my memory is correct, the rationale on bombing Iran recently started to shift from deterring the development of a nuke to stopping support for insurgents in Iraq. That shift came about around the time that the intelligence agencies started to put the finishing touches on the NIE.
Bush and his henchmen have always been at least one step ahead of us in their resort to military action. Case in point was the surge in troops when the whole world was expecting a reduction.
Biden and the rest of the Democrats need to keep the specter of impeachment for an unauthorized attack alive and visible. We can not afford to think that the consensus analysis of the NIE in and of itself is sufficient to deter these fools from yet another misadventure.

[madeline_con]

1. If they could only find some video of Iranians gassing dogs! n/t

[daninthemoon]

2. The neocons will do whatever they feel like. Bushler is still trying

to tell us how scary them bad Iranians are and how they could go nucular anytime. So is LIEberman. Little things like truth and law haven't slowed these guys down yet.

[Tom Joad]

3. It is very much on the table. and i have little doubt congress will approve

as long as Pelosi and Hillary and Hoyer are leaders in Congress, we have much to fear.

http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/930162.html

Study: U.S., Israel should begin planning strike on Iran nuclear sites
By Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Iran, U.S., Israel, nuclear

Israel and the United States should begin an intense dialogue on ways to deal with Iran's nuclear plans and should examine ways to attack Iran's nuclear facilities, according to a new study published by an influential Washington think tank.

The report, by a former deputy head of the National Security Council, Chuck Freilich, says Israel and the U.S. should discuss nuclear-crisis scenarios between Israel and Iran. The report, entitled "Speaking About the Unspeakable," was released over the weekend by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP).

WINEP has many Democratic Party supporters. put the champagne away, and start challenging your reps.

[Life Long Dem]

4. He said the report changes nothing.

The report is up front where he wants it. What's next? Is impeachment going to take place?

[Wizard777]

6. Kucinich should pounc e on this. This time they have been caught in their lies red handed. n/t

[Strelnikov_]

5. Agree

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=2395457

[chieftain]

11. You nailed it in your reply.

[madrchsod]

7. from what i`ve heard today

that is still an option that they will pursue. this is why that "vote" of hillary`s and her spin really showed her as a fool. bush can attack iran without the congressional approval

[chieftain]

9. I have long thought that Iran is the ticking time bomb in her

campaign.If Bush attacks Iran, Hillary's popularity in the Democratic Party will plummet. The question is ,if it happens, will it happen early enough to torpedo her run for the nomination.

[polichick]

8. Real leaders would push to impeach NOW...

Apparently only Kucinich is willing to stick his neck out for the Constitution ~ oh yeah, Dennis and Ron Paul.

[robbedvoter]

10. Very lucid post. At the very least, the day after a Democrat is elected, war begins!

(Poppy did same to Clinton, remember?)

[chieftain]

22. Thanks. Is the Poppy reference to Somalia?

[truckin]

12. This is pure speculation and I have little to base it on but I believe

that congress has made a secret pact with the * admin to not seek impeachment as long as he leaves Iran alone. I could be totally off but this could explain a lot of things.

[creeksneakers2]

13. That's not what General Patraeus said yesterday

Patraeus says that Iran has curtailed or stopped its activity in Iraq. Patraeus wouldn't have been allowed to say that if Bush planned an invasion based on Iranian involvement in Iraq.

The chances of an invasion were always remote. Of course, Cheney and the Neocons wanted to go in but everybody else in the government was opposed, including the Pentagon. There was even talk of the Pentagon refusing an order to invade.

The military is tapped out. Invading Iran would take billions of dollars. Where would Bush get the money? Congress? No way the GOP would back Bush on an invasion only 17% of the public wants. Well over half the public is already angry about Bush lying us into Iraq. Now he's caught trying to lie us into Iran. Will anybody stand behind Bush? Biden threatened to impeach Bush and he'd likely have the votes.

There would be no international support. We'd lose allies in the region.

There is no way in hell Bush is going to invade Iran.

Those who said Hillary's vote would be used as an excuse for Bush to invade Iran were wrong to begin with and now more than ever certainly wrong.

[chieftain]

14. I don't think an invasion of Iran was ever in the offing. I do

believe that the bombing of Iran was and is on the table and remains a priority goal of Cheney and the Neo-cons before W leaves office.
I have seen Petreus's remarks and am encouraged that the entire military leadership realizes that an attack on Iran would be a disaster.
All that said, Hillary's vote on Kyle/Lieberman is indefensible. W may lose his nerve and not order the attack in the face of strenuous military resistance, but make no mistake the Resolution that she supported was part of laying the groundwork for such a strike. I don't believe that the vote came from naivete on the part of Clinton but rather a political calculation that her best chance to win the GE is to not get characterized as soft on terrorism.

[formercia]

15. A self-fulfilling prophesy

Junior would love Armageddon on his watch so he can have his chapter in the post-Apocalypse testament.

[chieftain]

16. That's what frightens me more than anything. W is part of the

goofball set that thinks the end of the world is a good thing. Most times, we would just let these poor souls go off and pray in the corner. But this guy has the power to make Armageddon happen. I am in the process of reading Craig Unger's book, the Fall of the House of Bush which chronicles the unholy union of evangelicals and neo-cons. It is shameful what that marriage has done to the US and the world. And terrifying for what still may be in store for all of us.

[formercia]

19. George 1:1

It was the mother of all fuck-ups.

[gateley]

17. BIden said Bush's plans won't change, just the rhetoric. nt

[mod mom]

18. I agree-NEVER TURN YOUR BACK ON A CORNERED RAT!

[Felix Mala]

20. The neocons are boohooing that the NIE Grinch stole the war Mr. Cheney

promised them for Christmas... Now they're calling for the White House to clear out the traitors and Clinton-appointed, liberal scum in the CIA, DOD, State and Justice who produced this report.

[chieftain]

21. I was watching one of the "news" shows last week where Bolton

explained that we went to war with Iraq to prevent Sadaam from obtaining WMD's. The lies roll trippingly from their tongues while their faces betray not a hint of shame.

[formercia]

23. So we go to War with Iran

not only to prevent them from aquiring WMDs, but also to keep them from aquiring the knowledge to produce them.

All Iranians will get frontal lobotomies before Junior agrees to remove troops from Iran.

[chieftain]

24. Well, I think the frontal lobotomies are a good idea,

I just have a different patient in mind.