US Considers Strikes on Iran from Azeri Territory (Scott Ritter)

[sabra]

http://www.panarmenian.net/news/eng/?nid=17925

US Considers Strikes on Iran from Azeri Territory

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ UN former nuclear weapons inspector Scott Ritter stated the US Administration considers strikes upon Iran from the territory of Azerbaijan. In his words, after acquainting oneself with military maps, it will be clear that deploying troops in Azerbaijan is extremely important for the US. «US command is extremely interested in deployment of forces in that South Caucasian country. Why is this important? It is Iran's neighbor. The shortest route to Teheran lies below the Caspian, where the army plans an offensive to,» the expert noted.

Ritter supposes that the military believe they can fulfill this mission and they plan implementing it. «They got political instructions from the commander-in-chief to fulfill that task. No one should doubt US President, his closest circles and the military prepare to war with Iran,» Scott Ritter emphasized, reports American Patriot.

[magellan]

1. Oh GOD

This is my number one overarching worry at the moment. I foresee BAAAD consequences for the world at large in almost every conceivable way if Bush** attacks Iran. The repercussions will be devastating.

[jean]

2. Thanks again, Scott Ritter!

[DBoon]

3. they plan on "taking" Tehran?

wow.

[magellan]

4. They can hardly avoid it

Bush** can't just bomb Iran's nuclear sites and leave and expect to induce regime change. And make no mistake, that's what he wants. To do that he'll have to take the capitol.

[One Honest Guy]

5. From an Armenian news source?

Azerbaijanis and Armenians are blood enemies. They fought a bloody war in the 1990s, and are poised to get into another shooting war within the next 6-12 months unless the international community decides not to get involved.

Azerbaijan needs the support of US, that is true. Especially military support, since Armenians have pretty solid indirect support from Russia. But I seriously doubt they would let Americans do anything against Iran, using their national territory. Iranians are pretty close to Azeris. There are only 8 million Azeris lining in Azerbaijan, while there are over 20 million in Iran, where they are actively seeking more recognition from the central government in Tehran. But they ain't Kurds if that's what you are thinking.

I wouldn't be surprised if the recent disturbances in Azerbaijan were the work of our domestic intelligence service. You know, just to shake up the Azeri government and make them run into the open arms of Uncle Sam.

[Sufi Marmot]

12. Yeah, this is likely Armenian propaganda...

It's not going to happen - like Iran, Azerbaijan is a Shia Muslim country (at least on paper - they're much more secular than Iranians...). If Nagorno-Karabakh gets out of hand again (which I don't think it will...) Azerbaijan would like Iranian (and Turkish) support, lest they lose another 20% of the country to Armenia. But I think that for all the rhetoric, there are too many economic interests (pipelines, trade, investment in NK proper...) will intervene to prevent a re-escalation in NK. Hopefully I'm right...

-SM

[Roland99]

6. No wonder Rummy/Rice were trying to secure bases in SW Asia

Rummy and Rice have been busy trying to secure and keep US bases in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

[Monk06]

7. Old news but.................

I would trust this over the Armenian source.

http://jamestown.org/edm/article.php?article_id=2370148

"The non-aggression pact with Iran signed (by Azerbaijan)in May 2005 seeks to mitigate potential damage to Azerbaijani-Iranian relations should there be a U.S. deployment in Azerbaijan. The pact prohibits the use of either country's military bases by a third country in order to attack the other."

Ultimately I think Russia and China will prevail through the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
in cutailing significant US military presence in the region.

In any case US air attacks from bases in the Stans are out of the question IMO

[gordianot]

8. You are thinking logically and rationally. Big Mistake!

The Bush administration operates a logic that is not rational. They are in survival mode and need a crisis. Constitutional law means nothing to this administration why would international law mean anything to them? If a Democratic Congress comes into power in 2006 they will be against the wall. "What is there to lose?"

[starroute]

11. You can't trust the Jamestown Foundation either

http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/1507

CIA Director William J. Casey, a leading figure in right-wing national security organizations, helped back the formation of the Jamestown Foundation, agreeing with its complaints that the U.S. intelligence community did not provide sufficient funding of Soviet bloc defectors. The new organization enabled the defectors to earn extra dollars—in addition to their stipends from the CIA—by lecturing and writing. . . .

The focus on totalitarianism as the main threat to U.S. national security coincides with that of the neoconservative political camp. Since the Cold War’s end, the Jamestown Foundation has become increasingly linked to neocon-driven institutions and leading figures, including the Center for Security Policy and Freedom House. . . .

Glen Howard is the current president of the foundation. He previously worked at Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) as an analyst, and has served as a consultant for the Department of Defense, National Intelligence Council, and “major oil companies operating in Central Asia and the Middle East.” He is currently the Executive Director of the American Committee for Peace in Chechnya, an organization based at Freedom House. . . .

The foundation’s 17-member board includes Chairman Clinton I. Smullyan and Vice Chairman R. James Woolsey. The other members are Zbigniew Brzezinski, Barbara Buchanan, Jams H. Burnley, Peter C. Cook, Diana Denman, Willem deVogel, Edward O. Gaylord, James G. Gildwitz, Patrick W. Gross, Ralph W. Hauenstein, James Hauslein, Artemis Joukowsky, Woody Peterson, and Arthur Waldron. Vice President Dick Cheney and Marcia Carlucci, wife of Frank Carlucci, are former board members.

The best that RightWeb can find to say about them is that their translations aren't as deliberately misleading as those of some of the other Neocon organizations.

[Monk06]

14. It's not the source it's the facts in the article I find compelling.......

The Uzbek/Iran non aggression pact and the Shanghai Cooperative Organization
leave Russia and China in the driver's seat in the Stans.

Plus the Iran/China pipeline and the Trans Caspian Pipeline projects shift power
in favor of the SCO. As a block the Stans are not likely to tolerate permanent
US bases and the US has no military or political leverage to force the issue.

[TexasLawyer]

9. Write to your governmental representatives!

I just wrote to the Whitehouse, my senators and my rep. about Iran. Maybe it will do no good whatsoever, but it makes me feel better that I did something. I encourage y'all to write to your own senators and reps. Feel free to crib off this:


Dear Senator Cornyn,

I have written before about the growing tension between this country and Iran. I have not heard back, so I will ask again--

Are you doing anything to STOP what looks like an inexorable march toward yet another disastrous pre-emptive war in the Middle East? I ask this as a patriot, who knows that a bankrupt country with a depleted military and a dwindling group of allied nations is a weak country. I ask as a taxpayer, who is eventually going to have to pay what is already a huge price-tag for Iraq and Afghanistan. And finally and most importantly I ask as the mother of three teenaged children who will likely be drafted to fight in the ever-expanding wars in the Middle East.

I know there is no draft now, but there will be once the repercussions of a "tactical strike" in Iran outsize and overwhelm all the optimistic and "expert" Pentagon planning that appears to be going on currently.

I see in your biography that you have two children. Will they be going off to war in the Middle East too? I am telling you that this country has NO stomach for more war. The very thought that this might happens makes me, my family, and everyone with whom we talk about this-- physically ill.

Please, for the love of God, take any kind of military attack on Iran OFF the table!

Sincerely and with hope,

(Texas Lawyer, TL's husband) and our children Rose, Tom and Laura

[Strelnikov_]

10. Take Tehran? With What Army?

I can see them angling for some air bases in support of rescue operations for downed pilots and special forces runs.

But a launching pad for a ground invasion?

[lonestarnot]

13. kick