Kucinich: The Bush Administration is preparing for war against Iran

[Earth_First]

Dear Friends,

The Bush Administration is preparing for war against Iran, using an almost identical drumbeat of weapons of mass destruction, imminent threat, alleged links to Al Queda, and even linking Iran with a future 9/11.

In the past few months reports have been published in Newsweek, ABC News and GQ Magazine that indicate the US is recruiting members of paramilitary groups to destabilize Iran through violence. The New Yorker magazine and the Guardian have written that US has already deployed military inside Iran. The latest issue of Time writes of plans for a naval blockade of Iran at the Port of Hormuz, through which 40% of the world's oil supply passes. Other news reports have claimed that an air strike, using a variety of bombs including bunker busters to be dropped on over 1,000 targets, including nuclear facilities. This could obviously result in a great long term humanitarian and environmental disaster.

Earlier this year, I demanded congressional hearings on Iran and was able to secure the promise of a classified briefing from the Department of Defense, the State Department and the CIA. When the briefing was held, the Department of Defense and the State Department refused to show and are continuing to block any congressional inquiry into plans to attack Iran.

Just this past week, the International Atomic Energy Agency called "erroneous, misleading and unsubstantiated" statements relating to Iran's nuclear program which came from a staff report of the House Intelligence committee. Other intelligence officials have claimed over a dozen distortions in the report which, among other things, said Iran is producing weapons grade uranium. The Washington Post wrote: "The IAEA called that 'incorrect' noting that weapons grade uranium is enriched to a level of 90 percent or more. Iran has enriched uranium to 3.5% under IAEA monitoring."

I have demanded that the Government Oversight subcommittee on National Security and International Relations, of which I am the ranking Democrat, hold hearings to determine how in the world the Director of National Intelligence, John Negroponte, viewed the report without correcting the obvious inaccuracies before it was published. Once again a case for war is being built on lies.

You will recall that four and a half years ago I warned this nation about the deception behind the build up to war against Iraq. Everything I said then turned out to be 100% right. I led 125 Democrats in opposing the Iraq war resolution in March of 2003. The very same people who brought us Iraq in 2003 are getting ready to bring us a war against Iran.

With your help, I will lead the way to challenge the Bush Administration's march to war against Iran. Please support my campaign for re-election with a generous donation to help continue my work in the Congress. The plan to attack Iran, on its face, threatens the safety of every US soldier serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, not to mention the countless Iranian lives at risk and the threat to world peace and environmental catastrophes.

With your support, I intend to continue to insist upon:

(1) Direct negotiations with Iran.
(2) The US must guarantee Iran and the world community that it will not attack Iran.
(3) Iran must open once again to international inspections of its nuclear program.
(4) Iran must agree not to build nuclear weapons.

Many of you joined me three years ago as I ran for President to challenge the deliberate lies about WMDs, Iraq and 911, Iraq and Al Queda and the Niger "yellowcake" claims which put us onto the path of an unnecessary, illegal, costly war in Iraq. The Iraq war has caused greater instability and violence in the world community. In the meantime, our government has used the oxymoronic war on terror to trample our Constitution, rip up the Bill of Rights and rule by fear.

Please join with me as we continue our efforts for the end of fear and the beginning of hope, for international dialogue, for cooperation and for peace.

Thank you,



Recieved via email (no link)

[civildisoBDence]

1. How torture may be used to justify invasion of Iraq

For the life of me, I can't figure out why the Bush administration is so insistent that it have the right to torture detainees.

How's this for a reason: torture produces bad intelligence. It forces the victim to say whatever the torturer wants to hear.

Bush can use torture to fabricate whatever "evidence" he needs to drag us into another war.

Lovely!

Newsprism

[scarletwoman]

2. Dennis Kucinich is truly a Light shining in the darkness!

I wish he weren't so alone among our elected Dems...

Thank you for posting this -- k & r.

sw

[katinmn]

3. received this earlier. Is Dennis the only member of Congress

sounding the alarm about Iran?

This country has gone completely crazy!

[Earth_First]

4. As Stephanie Miller so eloquantly puts it: "Completely BATSHIT crazy."

Cue: "You're a lying sack of crap..."

[laststeamtrain]

5. Dennis IS the litmus test for being a Democrat as far as I'm concerned.n/t

[Gregorian]

6. It has been shown that words do not have an effect on this administration.

I applaud Congressman Kucinich. He is highly commendable. A noble man, indeed.

However, I'm afraid that the use of the quaint verbage will not suffice. We are in the midst of criminals.

Vandals in the White House.

[LWolf]

7. Words might not,

but the dollars and votes of Democrats might. If Democrats really appreciate the work that he does, they ought to show it with their support, instead of joining the powerbrokers in marginalizing what he has to offer.

[boolean]

8. And the media is beginning to "ask the question" again...

Saw on CNN last night what a "war with Iran might look like".

It's starting.