|
Phase III of Bush's War
Patrick J. Buchanan
Lew
Rockwell.com
Monday Sept 3, 2007
Those who hoped that – with the victory of the antiwar
party in 2006, the departure of Rumsfeld and the neocons from
the Pentagon, the rise of Condi and the eclipse of Cheney –
America was headed out of Iraq got a rude awakening. They are
about to get another.
Today, the United States has 30,000 more troops in Iraq than
on the day America repudiated the Bush war policy and voted the
GOP out of power. And President Bush, self-confidence surging,
is now employing against Iran a bellicosity redolent of the days
just prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom.
What gives Bush his new cockiness? The total collapse of the
antiwar coalition on Capitol Hill and the breaking of the Congress.
Last spring, Bush vetoed the congressional deadlines for troop
withdrawals, then rubbed Congress' nose in its defeat by demanding
and getting $100 billion to support the surge and continue the
war.
Before the August recess, Democrats broke again and voted to
give Bush the warrantless wiretap authority many among them had
said was an unconstitutional and impeachable usurpation of power.
They are a broken and frightened lot.
(Article continues below)
Comes now evidence congressional Democrats have not only lost
the pro-victory vote, but forfeited the peace vote, as well.
According to a Zogby poll the last week in August, just two weeks
before Gen. Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker report, Americans,
by 45 percent to 20 percent, give this Democratic Congress lower
grades on handling the war than the Republican Congress it replaced.
Fifty-four percent of the nation believes, contra Harry Reid,
the war is not lost. That is twice the support that Bush enjoys
for his war leadership, a paltry 27 percent. But, by nine to one,
Bush's leadership on the war is preferred to that of the Congress
of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.
Incredibly, only 3 percent of the nation gives Congress a positive
rating on its handling of the war. Congress has lost the hawks,
and the owls, and the doves. No one trusts its leadership on the
war.
And George W. smells it. He no longer fears the power of Congress,
and his rhetoric suggests he is contemptuous of it. He is brimming
with self-assurance that he can break any Democratic attempt to
impose deadlines for troop withdrawal and force Congress to cough
up all the funds he demands.
Confident of victory this fall on the Hill, Bush is now moving
into Phase III in his War on Terror: First, Afghanistan, then
Iraq, then Iran.
Do not take this writer's word for it. Hearken to the astonishing
rhetoric Bush used at the American Legion Convention in Las Vegas
against Tehran:
"Iran ... is the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism.
... Iran funds terrorist groups like Hamas and the Palestinian
Islamic Jihad, which murder the innocent and target Israel. ...
Iran is sending arms to the Taliban. ... Iran has arrested visiting
American scholars who have committed no crimes. ... Iran's active
pursuit of technology that could lead to nuclear weapons threatens
to put a region already known for instability and violence under
the shadow of a nuclear holocaust.
"Iran's actions threaten the security of nations everywhere.
... We will confront this danger before it is too late."
Bush has repeatedly warned Iran to cease supplying Iraqi insurgents
with arms and enhanced IEDs for attacks on our troops in Iraq.
How has Tehran responded to Bush's virtual ultimatums?
"The attacks on our bases and our troops by Iranian-supplied
munitions have increased in the last few months – despite
pledges by Iran to help stabilize the security situation in Iraq.
...
"Iran's leaders cannot escape responsibility for aiding
attacks against coalition forces and the murder of innocent Iraqis."
This is a case for war. Indeed, it's an assertion by President
Bush that Iran is colluding in acts of war against the soldiers
and Marines and allies of the United States. What does he intend
to do?
"I have authorized our military commanders in Iraq to confront
Tehran's murderous activities. ... We've conducted operations
against Iranian agents supplying lethal munitions to extremist
groups."
This suggests that U.S. forces may already be engaged in combat
operations against Iranians.
Who or what can stop this drive to war?
Last spring, Nancy Pelosi herself, after a call from the Israeli
lobby, pulled an amendment that would have forced Bush to come
to Congress for specific authorization before attacking Iran.
Before the August recess, the Senate voted 97 to zero for a resolution
sponsored by Joe Lieberman to censure Iran for complicity in the
killing of U.S. soldiers in Iraq.
The resolution explicitly rejected authorization for immediate
military action, but the gist of it declared that Iran is participating
in acts of war against the United States, laying the foundation
for a confrontation.
What is to prevent Bush from attacking Iran and widening the
war, at a time and place of his choosing, and sooner than we think?
Nothing and no one.
|
INFOWARS:
BECAUSE THERE'S A WAR ON FOR YOUR MIND
|
|
