U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran "likely"

Former CIA officer Ray McGovern states that he believes "a perfect storm seems to be gathering in late summer or early fall," when the Bush administration and allies in Israel will launch attacks against Iran.

In an editorial on Antiwar.com, McGovern says:

This time it will be largely the Air Force's show, punctuated by missile and air strikes by the Navy. Israeli-American agreement has now been reached at the highest level; the armed forces planners, plotters and pilots are working out the details.

Emerging from a 90-minute White House meeting with President George W. Bush on June 4, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the two leaders were of one mind:

"We reached agreement on the need to take care of the Iranian threat. I left with a lot less question marks [than] I had entered with regarding the means, the timetable restrictions, and American resoluteness to deal with the problem. George Bush understands the severity of the Iranian threat and the need to vanquish it, and intends to act on that matter before the end of his term in the White House."

Things are looking very grim for the prospect of a peaceful transition for our nation when Bush/Cheney leave office; especially if Barack Obama wins the presidency. Already there are scary rumblings from McCain's staff, such as adviser Charlie Black's statement that if a terrorist attack occurred on U.S. soil, “certainly it would be a big advantage to him.”

Black apologized for the remark, but the fact remains that in the most cynical mindset possible, this is all but a foregone conclusion. They sincerely believe nothing would be more helpful to McCain's hawkish ambitions than for a couple more airplanes to fly into high profile targets. The very notion that this would be considered a political advantage by McCain's people is disgusting and thoroughly telling.

Another thing that would help cement McCain's efforts would be an American attack on Iran. There is a very real possibility that the Bush/Cheney administration will precipitate a crisis that demands a military response from the Iranians, giving us the so-called justification to attack them.

I prefer not to speculate on what the Bush/Cheney cabal will cook up to provoke a war-like response from Iran, but the immediately aftermath will likely result in an unacceptable number of American causalities and a blistering torrent of hawkish rhetoric from the Right that will almost certainly result in yet another rush to war in the region.

I grew up during the Cold War, and I participated in countless atomic "duck and cover" drills in elementary school, so I know what the fear of possible attack feels like. Yet, during all those years when we lived under a constant cloud of being only minutes from near-total devastation, I always felt somewhat reassured by the fact that our leaders were smart enough and compassionate enough to avoid going over the top in their efforts to protect us.

In contrast, our current leaders are neither smart nor compassionate; indeed, they are ruled by hatred, opportunistic greed, and sheer hubris. Their behavior has the tacit approval of a complicit Congress, who for some ungodly reason continues to insist that impeachment is "off the table".

We can't afford to "duck and cover" any longer.