Why does Bush want to attack Iran?

[ThomWV]

Set aside the nonsense about Iran being our major foe in Iraq, one of the most preposterous assertions imaginable and wonder why Bush is hell bent on attacking Iran? Its certainly not because Jimmy Carter lost his honor there. Its doesn't seem to be about Iran's oil, and nobody from there tried to kill his daddy. What could it be?

[Oceansaway]

1. he's a warmonger, like McLame...n/t

[Bush_MUST_Go]

4. Attack them & then get sweet contracts signed for your buddies. Iraq Pt. 2

[Bensthename]

11. To keep war and his war monger base fired up for the next election.

[spanone]

2. he believes democrats will win in nov. and relishes leaving them with the utmost of clusterfucks

and because his president of VICE is dick cheney

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

3. Because he's a psychopathic lunatic.

:shrug:

[driver8]

5. Because he doesn't know how to do anything else but kill people.

He also probably figures a war will bring his approval rating up.

Hell, it worked the first time!

[gratuitous]

6. Found something he hasn't wrecked yet?

Surely you've seen the spoiled child, the one who breaks whatever is set before him the moment it bores him? Bush swept aside some of the detritus of broken toys past (Iraq, the economy, energy policy, environment, all busted to pieces) and lo and behold! there in the corner, nearly forgotten from one of his State of the Whatever speeches, there was Iran! Nearly pristine condition. Of course it has to be smashed to smithereens, play time's almost over!

[Eurobabe]

7. Because he hasn't fully bankrupted the USA yet n/t

[alfredo]

39. read Naomi Klein's "The Shock Doctrine. " As long as America is a

democracy, his economic goals cannot be pushed on us. Destroy the economy, causing chaos. Declare martial law, then come in and impose their corporatist free market on us.

[Echo In Light]

8. I doubt it's him, but various groups and orgs he's beholden to {National $ecurity State}

[lutherj]

9. I think it's because the shiite majority in Iraq will align with the

shiite rulers in Iran. They knew this was a problem going into Iraq. That's why they delayed elections, and it's why Bush Sr failed to support the shiite uprising after the first gulf war. Bush thinks he's going to knock the theocratic leaders out of power and wind up with a democratic government in Iran. It is, of course, more of the same neocon delusionary thinking.

[90-percent]

16. bush 1

It always really bothered me that Bush 1 told these shiite people back in Iraq 1 that he would support their insurrection against Saddam and then when they took him at his word and went after Saddam Bush 1 betrayed them by doing nothing and a lot got killed by Saddam's forces.

We the USA are some friends, aren't we!

-90% Jimmy

[kestrel91316]

10. They won't obey his commands, THAT'S why.

The nerve of them Iranians, thinkin' they can ignore Caligula.......

[Bensthename]

12. To keep war and his war monger base fired up for the next election.

[doublethink]

13. Because it's aways been part of PNAC's agenda.

It's in their documents going way back, available on the internet. Peace.

[Echo In Light]

14. Yep

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

21. My post #20 has the link for Rebuilding America's Defenses.

[Lerkfish]

15. simple. Oil. bourse. power. hegemony.

do you really have to ask?

here: read up on their plans:

http://www.newamericancentury.org/statementofprinciples.htm

[Canuckistanian]

17. Endless war. Good for business, you know

For the people in the countries invaded.... not so much.

[jpak]

18. I-ran has nucular stuff that neocons don't like

They wants to get rids of that stuff and make 'merica safe

[Echo In Light]

19. Yeah, safe for the remaining 26,000 nukes currently awaiting digital instruction

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

20. It's in PNAC's Rebuilding America's Defenses, which he has been following like a grocery list.

Doug Feith and Richard Pearl, contributors also wrote A Clean Break for Israel, very similar to PNAC, and Iran was highlighted there too.

Here's a link to Rebuilding...
www.newamericancentury.org/RebuildingAmericasDefenses.pdf

Here is A Clean Break
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article1438.htm

[Echo In Light]

22. But!!!...but!!...that sounds rather CONSPIRATORIAL! ...golly

:sarcasm: ;-)

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

23. Echo......

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[PufPuf23]

24. So few see this about he PNAC 2000 Plan

It is being followed to this date. I worry about a hot war in South America. The media grooming is not new. Military and contract forces arwe built up under Plan Colombia. Disheartening really.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

27. You know the part about Control of air, space and cyberspace? Check out this new AF logo!

[annabanana]

37. Really. We have been given NO reason not to believe they're serious.

In fact they have been consistant right from the start.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

42. To him and his fellow sociopaths, Shrub's reign has been a huge success.

[stillcool]

25. Here's something ...

Targeting Iran
by Saman Sepehri
International Socialist Review, November-December 20006
Why is Iran important?
Iran is central to U.S. plans for reshaping the Middle East. It possesses a combination of energy resources, strategic location, economic potential, and political weight (as witnessed recently by its support of Hezbollah during the war on Lebanon) that no other country in the region can match. The architects of the Bush Doctrine have set as their goal prevention of any competitors (i.e., Europe, China, Russia, or Japan) from rising to a level to challenge U.S. hegemony in the future. An important part of this project is the control of strategic resources such as oil and natural gas, which the U.S. can use as a chokehold on its competitors.
According to Oil and Gas Journal, Iran sits on top of the second largest untapped oil reserves in the world, 125.8 billion barrels , and also the second largest natural gas reserves (with Russia having the largest reserves). It has a capacity to almost double its present oil production with some investment in its oil industry, and 80 percent of its gas reserves are untapped.
But to focus on Iran's energy resources is to miss its broader strategic importance in the area, and globally. With a population of seventy million, nearly three times that of Iraq or Saudi Arabia, a highly developed infrastructure, an educated and technically proficient population, and sizable armed forces, Iran is the dominant regional power in the Persian Gulf, where two-thirds of world's oil reserves lie.
Despite years of pressure by the U.S. and until recently limited foreign investment, Iran has developed an economy that is larger than Israel's and twice the size of Egypt's or Pakistan's. Buoyed by high oil prices, Iran's economy has been growing at a robust rate of 7 percent over the past several years; the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increasing by 60 percent over just four years.
European economies (notably France and Germany), China, and Japan have developed extensive ties with Iran, where recent privatization and joint ventures have created opportunities for investment. For example, French automakers Renault and Peugeot, Japan's Nissan, and Germany's Mercedes Benz have production lines in Iran, and are expanding operations to not only fulfill Iran's domestic market, but for exports to Asia, Africa, and Western Europe. Iran is also involved in joint auto ventures in China and Venezuela, and is expected to start auto exports to Croatia and Latin America next year.
It is therefore no surprise that some of the European allies of the U.S., as well as China and Russia, are less enthusiastic about U.S.-peddled sanctions on Iran. The Wall Street Journal, in a September 21 article, highlighted Iran's trade ties, showing how any sanctions pushed by the U.S. would greatly affect Washington's European and Asian competitors:
Through July of this year, the U.S. imported a minuscule $99 million of goods from Iran, while shipping to Iran $55 million of goods. The other Security Council members have seen their business with Iran increase. Their total trade with Iran is on track to top $22 billion this year, up from $18 billion in 2005.
While part of the growth reflects the higher cost of Iran's oil, the trade is broader: Iran buys German steel, French cars, Russian armaments and Chinese air conditioners. The European Union accounts for more than a third of Iran's total trade with the world. China's exports to Iran have tripled in four years.
While the U.S. would face little economic loss from sanctions on Iran, the cost would be far higher for other major powers. This year, China's exports to Iran are up 25 percent. Chinese companies shipped nearly $400 million of air conditioners, engines, washing machines and other such machinery to Iran in the first six months of 2006, as well as $300 million in tractors, trucks and other vehicles. Dozens of Chinese construction companies are engaged in Iran, on work ranging from Tehran's transit system and power plants to merchant ships.
Meanwhile, in the first half of this year, energy-hungry China imported $5.16 billion of oil from Iran, a 56 percent increase from the pace of imports in 2005Germany is Iran's largest supplier of foreign goods, with exports last year of more than $5.4 billion.
What concerns Washington is not only Iran's economic ties with U.S. competitors, but the way in which those ties are helping Iran to secure its role as a key regional power in the Middle East outside Washington's control. In February 2000, Iran set a goal of "Cooperation among Iran, Russia, India and China to confront the hegemonic policies of America," and it has implemented this foreign policy with economic, energy and military deals.
Today, Russia is building Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant in the south and developing the security and defense systems for not only the Bushehr plant, but for all of Iran's enrichment facilities. China is not only a major trading partner and importer of Iranian oil and natural gas, but in 2004 China signed a deal with Iran worth as much as $100 billion, to buy Iranian oil and help develop Iran's giant natural gas fields. India is developing long-term energy ties with Iran, and helping upgrade Iran's military. In January 2005, Gas Authority of India, Limited (GAIL) signed a thirty-year deal worth $50 billion, which includes transfer of liquified natural gas as well as development of Iranian gas fields.
More importantly, Iranian, Indian, and Pakistani officials are discussing a $4 billion pipeline project which would take Iranian gas via Pakistan to India, a real coup in relations between India and Pakistan-two long-term adversaries. Furthermore, India, has agreed to upgrade Iran's Russian-made MiG fighters and Kilo class submarines. India and Iran also held their first ever joint naval exercises in September 2004.
The United States is trying to break this cooperation with the offer of nuclear energy assistance to India, under its new program of promoting nuclear energy in developing countries, called Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP). This cooperation is designed to stop India's gas deal with Iran, and move India away from the developing China-Iran bloc.
This deal has effectively rewritten the terms of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) by offering assistance to a non-signatory, India, which is prohibited under the NPT, while the U.S. is pursuing Iran for supposed violations of the same treaty.
The lies and deception of the U.S. campaign about Iran's nuclear program have also escalated. An August 23 staff report of the House of Representatives Committee on Intelligence falsely reported that Iran was currently enriching "weapons grade Uranium" and removing International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors. These accusations provoked the IAEA to send an unprecedented letter to the U.S. Congress "taking strong exception" to the House of Representatives report on Iran's nuclear activities for containing "erroneous, misleading and unsubstantiated information" and "outrageous and dishonest" suggestions.

Iran has also found a partner in challenging the U.S. in Venezuela. The previous administration of Iran's reformist president, Mohammad Khatami, and Hugo Chávez, president of Venezuela, forged close economic ties. Iran is investing in auto parts production, oil exploration and processing in Venezuela, and has also become a conduit for Chinese investment in Venezuela's oil industry.
More importantly, Iran has teamed up with Venezuela's Chávez and Cuba to publicly challenge U.S. imperialism. Iran's current president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, spent several days in Caracas before traveling to Cuba with Chávez to attend the conference of the Non-Aligned Movement, and then the opening of the United Nations general session. Their speeches and promotion of the Non-Aligned Movement as a voice for the Third World in the United Nations and against imperial powers was well rehearsed, highly coordinated, and effective.

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Iran/Targeting_Iran.html

[Snarkoleptic]

26. Just the next step in the Neocon "7 in 7" plan.

"While the Bush White House promotes the possibility of armed conflict with Iran, a tantalizing passage in Wesley Clark's new memoir suggests that another war is part of a long-planned Department of Defense strategy that anticipated "regime change" by force in no fewer than seven Mideast states. Critics of the war have often voiced suspicions of such imperial schemes, but this is the first time that a high-ranking former military officer has claimed to know that such plans existed."
http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2007/10/12/wesley_clark/

[Junkdrawer]

28. Whatever it takes to get Iran to agree that Big Oil gets Iraq's oil...

Cheney thinks the only way Iran will agree with that is regime change.

James Baker thinks they can be saber rattled into agreement.

Israel wants regime change so that they can maintain their Nuclear Weapons monopoly in the region.

Bush rides his bicycle, clears brush from his Pig Ranch and does what he's told.

[notesdev]

29. Ever see a pathological liar under intense questioning?

Some people can't help themselves; they lie, and they train themselves to believe their own lies, even as they know it's not true.

For most interactions with other people, those lies are of little consequence. The interaction lasts for a short period of time, doesn't touch on anything substantial, and leaves little impression afterwards.

But some people have to live with these pathological liars. If you've ever had this, um... "opportunity", you realize the problem goes much deeper - right down to the liar's functional core. What might start out as a minor lie, will, with each follow-up question, become more important, as it becomes the foundation for each successive lie. With enough lies piled on top of each other, the first - and at first, insignificant - lie becomes, effectively a religious belief. There becomes so much piled on top of it, that if it would be destroyed, a whole section of the liar's worldview comes tumbling down.

The fundamental lie in this case is our stated reasons for the overall "War on Terror".

Is something at stake here that is worth killing a lot of people for?

If so, why aren't we acting like it?



If we want to be serious about solving the problem posed by people killing our people in the name of Allah, the first thing to do is to understand its source. That source, clearly and unambiguously, is the militant radicalization program called Wahabbism, the official theology of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

What fuels that source are the US dollars generated by the net profit involved in pumping oil out of the ground for $2.50 a barrel and selling it for $100 a barrel. That is an enormous amount of net cash, and a good chunk of it is spent on exporting the most aggressive and militant possible form of Islam to every corner of the globe.

How exactly does wearing down our military capability in Afghanistan and Iraq solve this problem?


It doesn't. If they even recognize the fundamental nature of the problem, this administration has not admitted to it.

In the meantime, Muslim populations everywhere grow and segregate themselves from host populations; as they get stronger they get more aggressive, imposing more and more of their culture under threats of increasingly escalating violence. The first demands seem almost reasonable, that they are a conservative culture and that they do not like to mix women with men. Before too long, the host must surrender its own basic rights, such as the right to free speech, in order to prevent violence.

But there is no preventing of the violence. Gangs of Muslim boys form and make sport of ramping non-Muslim women because their failure to adopt a veil makes them 'whores', justified in their culture. Those who "offend Islam" are targeted and murdered in the streets. The final goal is the conversion or destruction of the non-Muslim host populations.


If we are then serious about survival, we need to look to World War II, the last war we seriously fought for our own survival. From Pearl Harbor to the unconditional surrender of Germany, then Japan, was less than four years.

We have been in Afghanistan since 2002, Iraq since 2003. This is 2008. And five whole years later no one wants to acknowledge that the problem is that we buy the oil that funds the radical Wahabbi movement. In the meantime our mothers are molested and our people terrorized by ineffective government functionaries every time one of us wants to board an airplane. 'Domestic passports' are not a possibility, they are a reality, with every flier and driver held or cleared by computer. All this in the name of fighting 'terrorism'.



So, every day this continues we hear another evasion of questions about goals; we are regaled with tactical successes that fail to amend strategic error; and for some reason we put up with it. But there's an election this November, and it's time we made the message loud and clear that we are sick of this and we want it to end. Our problems at home mount daily and we need to clean our own house before we regain the moral authority to tell anyone else what they should do.

[lonestarnot]

30. "the first thing to do is to understand its source" and McWar clearly intends not to be bothered.

[malaise]

31. He does not want to be caught for his current war crimes

One crime leads to thousands more to cover up the first one.

Additionally the fascist gang, Bush, Cheney, other neocons and their robber baron oil and military industry goons, don't give a damn. They don't give a damn who dies if they can get that ME oil.

The question for every citizen of the planet is what would you do if you saw what the US is doing to Iraq's neighbour? A lot of us don't particularly like some of our neighbours, but would we allow an outsider to do what Bushco has done to even our worst neighbour?

Bush et al should be hauled off to The Hague in chains. It's hysterically funny listening to the West attack China while this shit continues.

[caledesi]

32. Word is that BO is meeting w/ leader of Iran when he is Dem. nominee. NT

[spanone]

33. cause diplomacy requires thought

[TheFarseer]

34. a bluff to keep the uber "patriots" in line?

A boogie man to keep us scared? They have no intention of attacking Iran just like we could never have invaded the USSR? Just a half-baked theory I came up with just now :)

[leftchick]

35. because uncle dick told him too

and uncle dick always gets what he wants.

[Fireweed247]

36. Because it is in between Afghanistan and Iraq

Because Israel wants them to

Have you read PNAC?

www.peacecandidates.com

[uppityperson]

38. I know what you mean. I don't understand a lot of why they do what they do.

Can they not see or understand long term consequences? Do they not care? How? Why?

Yes, I've read all the reasons but it really comes down to wtf.

[B Calm]

40. He thinks he can redeem himself with a new Mission Accomplished moment.

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0410-26.htm

[frebrd]

41. He wants to attack Iran because....

attacking other countries is the only way he can get away with killling lots of people, and killing lots of people is the only way he can get it up.

[HooptieWagon]

43. They have oil...duh!

Same reason for all the sabre-rattling and interference regarding Venezuela. Don't hear much concern about Sudan, Zimbabwe, or Haiti, though, do you?

[LeftishBrit]

47. All too true!

[seemslikeadream]

44. part of the plan all along

[Cleita]

45. It's part of the PNAC plan to bring a Pax Americana to the Middle

East with war. They had this all laid out in 1998 even before Bush became President. The only thing left was for them to take over Washington with their minions so they could do this. It's not working our like they had laid out in their blueprint, but yet they can't seem to cut their losses and abandon the plan.

[LeftishBrit]

46. (1) Because it's there; (2) Because it's got oil

(3) Probably survivals from the good old days of Iran-Contra are having some influence.