HILLARY NEEDS TO EXPLAIN HER VOTE DESIGNATING QODS FORCE AS "TERRORIST" ORGANIZATION

I still cannot get over Hillary's vote to designate the Qods division of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as a "terrorist" organization. We know that Joe Lieberman has been agitating for resolutions like this one in order to enable Bush and Cheney to launch a military strike against Iran. To learn that Hillary has gone along with this is simply sickening. As John Edwards points out, if there is a Bush/Cheney attack, Hillary is liable to claim that her vote was justified based on faulty intelligence provided by the administration, just as she claims that her vote for the military authorization bill preceding the invasion of Iraq was justified on the basis of what she knew then.

WHAT IS HILLARY CLINTON THINKING BY VOTING TO DESIGNATE IRANIAN REVOLUTIONARY GUARD AS "TERRORIST"?

I don't understand Hillary Clinton's position on Iran and the Qods force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. She voted last week to ask the State Department to declare the Qods force a "terrorist" organization.

As former senator John Edwards has pointed out, Hillary's vote plays right into the hands of the neo-con war mongers who would like nothing better than to launch a military attack against Iran. Bush and Cheney then can justify their bombing and missile attack by saying that it was aimed at "terrorists," meaning ordinary Iranians.

There is no proof or creditable evidence that the Iranian government or Iranian military forces are engaging in acts of terrorism. In fact, when the U.S. military claims Iran is supplying IEDs and EFPs to Shiite insurgency groups, it has presented no evidence showing that these explosive devices were made and then supplied by the Iranian government to Iraqi insurgents, and why these arms were not and could not have been made by local Iraqis or people in countries other than in Iran.

So when Hillary casts her vote on the Qods force, all this does is to give George Bush cover to claim that by attacking Iran he was just following the logical progression of the Senate vote.

WASHINGTON POST WANTS WAR WITH IRAN

I can't believe that an editorial in today's The Washington Post is calling for U.S. military action against Iran and its Revolutionary Guard.

"In effect, the Revolutionary Guard, a radical state within Iran's Islamic state, is waging war against the United States and trying to kill as many American soldiers as possible. In response, the Bush administration is considering categorizing the Guard as a "specially designated global terrorist" organization under a post-Sept. 11 executive order aimed at blocking terrorists' access to their assets. The measure is reportedly part of a package the administration is considering to increase pressure on Iran at a time when it is defying U.N. orders to freeze its nuclear program and is showing no hint of flexibility in talks with the United States and the European Union.

"This seems to be the least the United States should be doing, given the soaring number of Iranian-sponsored bomb attacks in Iraq. What's puzzling are the murmurs of disapproval from European diplomats and others who say they favor using diplomacy and economic pressure, rather than military action, to rein in Iran." (Emphasis added).

This is the same garbage and unsubstantiated charges that George Bush and Dick Cheney have been spewing out against Iran, assisted by Joe Liebermann. There has been no evidence produced by these war mongers that Iran has been killing American soldiers, or that the Revolutionary Guard has been at war with the U.S. It is all innuendo and whispering, without firm evidence or solid intelligence.

This is all that Bush/Cheney need to see - the WashPo supporting their military aggression vis-a-vis Iran. We have all seen this transpire before, i.e., in the run-up to the unjustified War in Iraq. First plant rumor that Iran (Iraq) is a threat to the United States, then appear to run out of diplomatic overtures, then field an army and a navy and an airforce, then give Iran (Iraq) some sort of deadline, then attack.

The Washington Post is an out-and-out enabler of George Bush and Dick Cheney in their plans for military aggression against Iran. Don't let them start a war against Iran!

BUSH/CHENEY QUEST TO ATTACK IRAN

I have read commentators and bloggers who believe that naming the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a "terrorist organization" will allow Bush and Cheney to sidestep obtaining permission and authorization from Congress in their quest to launch an attack inside Iran. As you can see from the text below of the Authorization to Use Military Force (AUMD) passed by the Congress in 2001, Bush has the legal authority to take military action against those he deems pose a threat of terrorism to the United States.

"That the President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons."

Making the Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization allows Bush/Cheney to attack Iranians without need for further approval from Congress.

BUSH/CHENEY TO LABEL IRAN'S REVOLUTIONARY GUARD "TERRORIST ORGANIZATION"

Robin Wright writes in The Washington Post that Bush/Cheney will designate Iran's Revolutionary Guard as a "specially designated global terrorist."

This is a dumb move that may be the predecessor to disastrous military action against Iran. Instead of applying pressure, let's sit down with the Iranians and work things out. There is no reason why Bush must treat Iran and Iranians as the "enemy." The U.S. should work diplomatically to make Iran a friend and an ally.

Some would launch military strikes against Iran for what President Ahmadinejad said against Israel and Jews, doubting the Holocaust. But calm down. These are only words. Iran has not taken any military action against Israel. Hezbollah and Hamas do not constitute Iran. Lebanon is not Iran. Syria is not Iran.

Instead of provoking Iran and starting another Mid-East war, let's put down our swords and start to talk.

Wright includes criticisms similar to my own of the Bush/Cheney designation, such as that of analyst Joseph Cirincione at the Center for American Progress:

"The administration's move could hurt diplomatic efforts, some analysts said. "It would greatly complicate our efforts to solve the nuclear issue," said Joseph Cirincione, a nuclear proliferation expert at the Center for American Progress. "It would tie an end to Iran's nuclear program to an end to its support of allies in Hezbollah and Hamas. The only way you could get a nuclear deal is as part of a grand bargain, which at this point is completely out of reach."

"Such sanctions can work only alongside diplomatic efforts, Cirincione added.

""Sanctions can serve as a prod, but they have very rarely forced a country to capitulate or collapse," he said. "All of us want to back Iran into a corner, but we want to give them a way out, too. [The designation] will convince many in Iran's elite that there's no point in talking with us and that the only thing that will satisfy us is regime change.""