BUSH WAR MONGERS PAINT IRAN AS "ENEMY"

The word must be passed down from Bush and Cheney - prepare the American people to think that Iran is the "enemy" and is supplying IED's and other deadly munitions to the Shiite militia. Witness Bush the other day at a news conference with Afghan president Karzai claiming without any basis in reality that the Iranian government and its leaders have expressed a desire for nuclear weapons. In fact, Iran has never expressed a desire to have nuclear weapons, only nuclear power for its grids. But Bush wants Americans to believe that those Iranians are an imminent threat! War is the only answer! Bomb Teheran!

Switch to the U.S. military in Iraq, especially former White House aide and now chief military public affairs officer, Gen. Bergner, who claims, again without evidence, that Iran is training, arming and supporting militiamen who kill U.S. troops. Even Sen. Joe Lieberman got into the act last month by sponsoring a resolution calling on Iran to stop killing American soldiers. Unbelievably, the rest of the feckless Senate went along with Lieberman, even though there is not one shred of evidence that Iran is clandestinely involved in the war.

Juan Cole in Informed Comment has this perspicacious analysis of the American war mongers and saber rattlers:

"The US military appears to continue to ascribe all roadside bombings in Baghdad deploying explosively formed projectiles to Shiite militiamen, but this conclusion is shaky for all sorts of reasons. There is every reason to believe that Sunni Arab guerrillas could manufacture these devices, since the plates involved are made for the Iraqi oil industry, as well. And, if Iran did give any to anyone it would have been to the Badr Corps paramilitary, which may have failed to secure its warehouses or which may have some corrupt members that have sold off some of the munitions.

"Unfortunately, the Pentagon allegations, which are attempting to implicate Iran in the killing of US troops, have already been used by Senator Joe Lieberman in a saber-rattling resolution against Tehran, and are a foot in the door for the war party in Washington with regard to getting up military action against Iran. That it is mostly based on innuendo, unsubstantiated assumptions, and faulty reasoning will do us no good if the politicians start believing this stuff and using it to throw more billions to Boeing, Lockheed Martin and other arms manufacturers."