Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Covert US Military Strategy on Iran

By Robert Parry
May 25, 2010

Hawks in the United States and Israel appear set on “regime change” in Iran, pursuing a game plan similar to the run-up to war in Iraq, ratcheting up tensions while frustrating opportunities for a peaceful settlement.

Read on.
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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Judeo Christian Civilization rules at this moment in time because the USA is the only Super Power.

The control center is in Tel Aviv.

Whatever Israel does "first" like target assassinations & using drones to do it.

Both will claim to do their utmost to avoid the civilian causalities which occur.

This behavior is disgusting & shameful.

In 2006 while in the last 72 hours of the cease fire negotiations between Israel & Lebanon 2,000,000 Cluster bomblets were drooped on Southern Lebanon by Israel..

This is not widely known & of course was not condemned by the US.

In fact the US Military seemed to compete in their brutality within Iraq.

The Islamic street via TV is well aware that the "War on Terror" is a euphanism for a war on Islam.

Today Islam numbers 1.8 Billion people & they are in no hurry as in 100 years their number will be really "frightening".

This brutal "War" has very much suited the interests of Israel while it has very much damaged the interests of the USA.

The 2.5 % Jewish population of the US wields unbelievable power.

The US Supreme Court will include 3 Jews.

Rahm Emanuel , President's Obama chief advisor served in the Israeli defense force & has very close ties to Israel.

Recently an ex Major in the Israeli Air force was chosen as the most senior civilian adviser to American Air Force Chief of Staff Norton Schwartz ,also a Jew.

Why is it a coincidence that this brutal "War" has very much suited the interests of Israel while it has damaged the interests of the USA.

http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2009/12/08/the-deadly-embrace/

Tue May 25, 09:16:00 PM 2010
Bill from Saginaw said...

The New York Times recent story about the leaked secret order of General Petraeus, signed back in September of 2009 and purporting to authorize clandestine US special forces operations inside Iran, Yemen, the Horn of Africa, and who knows where else, has provoked comparatively little comment in the US mainstream media. Prominent historian Chalmers Johnson, in an interview with journalist Harry Kreisler posted in Counterpunch on 5/6/10, framed the context this way:

"Perhaps the most severe competition in our government today is between the Special Forces in the DOD and the CIA over who runs clandestine operations."

A couple of days ago, Richard Dreyfuss writing in The Nation cut to the chase: if Barack Obama knew about Petraeus's secret covert operations order, then he is exposed as a duplicitous, military interventionist little different than his Oval Office predecessor George W. Bush; if President Obama did not know of the classified directive, then he is a feckless incompetent. Take your pick. Perhaps it's a bit of both.

I think Dreyfuss is generally on target, but honing in straight for the bull's eye is premature.

The crux of the matter is how can an active duty American general issue secret orders to engage in military operations designed to destabilize the government of a foreign nation (Iran, Yemen, Somalia, what-have-you) without Congressional approval in the first place? How would Harry Truman have reacted if General Douglas MacArthur had secretly authorized US covert missions against the Chinese inside Manchuria when the Korean War was going badly?

The crunch time issue is the principle of civilian control over foreign policy and military policy decision making, it seems to me.

Dreyfuss bluntly argues that if Obama did not know General Petraeus had issued secret orders to wage covert special ops forays outside Afghanistan and occupied Iraq, then Petraeus should be sacked, and JSOC commander McChrystal too. After all, that's precisely what Truman did to a towering public figure like General MacArthur for insubordination of serious but lesser scale during the Korean conflict.

Dreyfuss is probably right, but also is probably engaged in wishful thinking. My fall back suggestion is this: the Senate Armed Services Committe should immediately hold an investigative hearing, and call as its first witness Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

What did Mr. Gates know of the classified Petraeus order, and when did he know it? Did Secretary Gates in turn inform the Commander-in-Chief about the clandestine operations by the Pentagon being aimed towards destabilizing Iran?

The turf battle between the CIA and the Pentagon over covert ops is tremendously important. So is the principle of civilian control over foreign affairs and use of military force.

But rather than speculating about whether Barack Obama is a neoliberal charlatan or a naive dupe (gotcha!), shouldn't this critical public policy question be posed first and foremost to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates?

After all, it happened on his watch, too.

Bill from Saginaw

Fri May 28, 04:17:00 PM 2010

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