[A-List] Escalation Against Iran The Pieces Are Being Put in Place

[Richard Menec <menecraj@xxxxxxx>]

(perhaps if the so-called left would have listened and acted on information 
which people like Juan Cole presented -- such as explaining that Ahmadinejad 
never did call for Israel to be "wiped off the map". . . and this this was 
just so much western propaganda, then we might have collectively bought more 
time to stop escalation of the present war.  It seems, however, that the 
left in many ways preferred to either be totally mute about such shameful 
propaganda repeated ad nauseum in the mainstream press (and also the 
not-so-mainstream press), or it actually assisted with the job of "softening 
up" and demonizing Ahmadinejad instead, and now this is where we're at.  As 
Martin Luther King stated April 4, 1967, at Riverside Church in New York 
City, "A time comes when silence is betrayal."  Well, IMHO, the so-called 
left has shamefully betrayed Iran by remaining silent in the face of 
revelations by people like Juan Cole)


http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iran-timeline.htm#070201


January 16, 2007

Escalation Against Iran The Pieces Are Being Put in Place

By COL. SAM GARDINER, Counterpunch T he pieces are moving.  They'll be in 
place by the end of February. The United States will be able to escalate 
military operations against Iran.

The second carrier strike group leaves the U.S. west coast on January 16. 
It will be joined by naval mine clearing assets from both the United States 
and the UK.  Patriot missile defense systems have also been ordered to 
deploy to the Gulf.

Maybe as a guard against North Korea seeing operations focused on Iran as a 
chance to be aggressive, a squadron of F-117 stealth fighters has just been 
deployed to Korea.

This has to be called escalation.  We have to remind ourselves, just as Iran 
is supporting groups inside Iraq, the United States is supporting groups 
inside Iran.  Just as Iran has special operations troops operating inside 
Iraq, we've read the United States has special operations troops operating 
inside Iran.

Just as Iran is supporting Hamas, two weeks ago we found out the United 
States is supporting arms for Abbas.  Just as Iran and Syria are supporting 
Hezbollah in Lebanon we're now learning the White House has approved a 
finding to allow the CIA to support opposition groups inside Lebanon.  Just 
as Iran is supporting Syria, we've learned recently that the United States 
is going to fund Syrian opposition groups.

We learned this week the President authorized an attack on the Iranian 
liaison office in Irbil.

The White House keeps saying there are no plans to attack Iran. Obviously, 
the facts suggest otherwise.  Equally as clear, the Iranians will read what 
the Administrations is doing not what it is saying.

It is possible the White House strategy is just implementing a strategy to 
put pressure on Iran on a number of fronts, and this will never amount to 
anything.  On the other hand, if the White House is on a path to strike 
Iran, we'll see a few more steps unfold.

First, we know there is a National Security Council staff-led group whose 
mission is to create outrage in the world against Iran. Just like before 
Gulf II, this media group will begin to release stories to sell a strike 
against Iran.  Watch for the outrage stuff. The Patriot missiles going to 
the GCC states are only part of the missile defense assets.  I would expect 
to see the deployment of some of the European-based missile defense assets 
to Israel, just as they were before Gulf II.

I would expect deployment of additional USAF fighters into the bases in 
Iraq, maybe some into Afghanistan.

I think we will read about the deployment of some of the newly arriving Army 
brigades going into Iraq being deployed to the border with Iran.  Their 
mission will be to guard against any Iranian movements into Iraq.

As one of the last steps before a strike, we'll see USAF tankers moved to 
unusual places, like Bulgaria.  These will be used to refuel the US-based 
B-2 bombers on their strike missions into Iran.  When that happens, we'll 
only be days away from a strike.

The White House could be telling the truth.  Maybe there are no plans to 
take Iran to the next level. The fuel for a fire is in place, however.  All 
we need is a spark.  The danger is that we have created conditions that 
could lead to a Greater Middle East War.

Sam Gardiner  is a retired colonel of the US Air Force.  He has taught 
strategy and military operations at the National War College, Air War 
College and Naval War College.

================
Richard Ménec
Bookseller news and more at: http://booksinternationale.pbwiki.com