Rice: No Plans for War in Iran

The Associated Press reports that

The U.S. is not preparing for war against Iran and Vice President Dick Cheney supports that policy, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says, taking a swipe at a U.N. official who says he's worried about "crazies" who want to start bombing.

Actually, the US is already at war with Iran, as described below.

The AP reporting makes it sound more like Rice is taking a swipe at Cheney. The fact that Rice needs to single out Cheney exposes the Vice President as a major source of the administratin's lack of credibility. In Rice's words:

The president of the United States has made very clear what our policy is. That policy is supported by all the members of his Cabinet and by the vice president of the United States.

Of course, this isn't the first time the President has said, according to Rice, "The president has made clear that we are on a diplomatic course," regarding Iran. He said the same thing about Iraq, yet had already decided to initiate a war of aggression on Iraq. This is documented in the Downing Street memo of July 23, 2002. It also shows the US gave little thought to post-invasion Iraq:

C reported on his recent talks in Washington. There was a perceptible shift in attitude. Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy. The NSC had no patience with the UN route, and no enthusiasm for publishing material on the Iraqi regime's record. There was little discussion in Washington of the aftermath after military action.

Yet Bush regularly gave the American public the false impression that he was following a "diplomatic course" well aftr July 23, 2002, as documented in the Mother Jones Timeline. For example:

December 1, 2001: According to Bob Woodward, Rumsfeld orders [General] Franks to begin work on an Iraq war plan. Bush will meet with military leaders regarding the plan on a regular basis starting late December, despite public assurances that the administration is seeking a diplomatic solution to its showdown with Saddam.

We know there's a plan to attack Iran, because it has been exposed by Seymour Hersh through the establishment media, and of course stated more clearly in the alternative non-establishment media. According to Hersh [1]:

This is not wild speculation. It's simply a fact that the planning has gone beyond the contingency stage, and it’s gone into what they call the operational stage, sort of an increment higher. And it's very serious planning, of course. And it's all being directed at the wish of the President of the United States.

The Washington Post also reported that the "U.S. has drawn up plans for launching tactical nuclear strikes against Iran." [2] According to Hersh, US military leaders have since forced the Bush administration to take this option off the table. It has not, however, necessarily been taken off of Israel's table of military options.

But the "planning" debate is a distraction. According to Retired Colonel Sam Gardiner, US military operations have already been initiated against Iran:

The issue is not whether the military option would be used, but [rather] who approved the start of operations already?.... It's a very serious question about the constitutional framework under which we are now conducting military operations in Iran. [2]

In other words, the US is already conducting military actions against Iran. This is substantiated, in part, by the proxy "terrorist" military actions led by the CIA against Iran. ABC News reports [3]:

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has hired a Pakistani terrorist group that has carried out a series of deadly terrorist attacks inside Iran, ABC News has reported on Wednesday (April 3, 2007).

It is also consistent with advanced military "spikes" in advance of the "official" war of agression against Iraq. The Downing Street memo of July 23, 2002, demonstrates this fact, and the fact that the timing of the Iraq war was planned with electoral politics in mind:

The [British] Defence Secretary said that the US had already begun "spikes of activity" to put pressure on the [Iraqi] regime. No decisions had been taken, but he thought the most likely timing in US minds for military action to begin was January, with the timeline beginning 30 days before the US Congressional elections.

So, the establishment media story is that US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, is assuring the World that the delusional Dick Cheney is on board with a "diplomatic" approach to Iran. However, this little smoke screen can't hide the fact that the US is already conducting military actions against Iran.

Contact The Media (LINK):

Tell the media you want more coverage of what's really happening in Iran. Ask them to interview Sam Gardiner and Seymour Hersh.

Sources:

1. DemocracyNow, April 12, 2006 Seymour Hersh: Bush Administration Planning Possible Major Air Attack on Iranmo.

2. DemocracyNow, April 17, 2006, Retired Colonel Sam Gardiner on Iran War Plans: "The Issue is Not Whether the Military Option Would Be Used But Who Approved the Start of Operations Already."

3. Downing Street Memo, To: DAVID MANNING, From: Matthew Rycroft, Subject: IRAQ: PRIME MINISTER'S MEETING, 23 JULY, Date: July 23, 2002, as originally reported in the The Sunday Times, May 1, 2005.