Report: Bush May Have Declared "Secret War" Against Syria and Iran!

[Cheney Killed Bambi]

Holy

f*cking

sh!t

From National Security Scholar Steve Clemons at The Washington Note:

Washington intelligence, military and foreign policy circles are abuzz today with speculation that the President, yesterday or in recent days, sent a secret Executive Order to the Secretary of Defense and to the Director of the CIA to launch military operations against Syria and Iran.

The President may have started a new secret, informal war against Syria and Iran without the consent of Congress or any broad discussion with the country.

<snip>

But what is disconcerting is that some are speculating that Bush has decided to heat up military engagement with Iran and Syria -- taking possible action within their borders, not just within Iraq.

Some are suggesting that the Consulate raid may have been designed to try and prompt a military response from Iran -- to generate a casus belli for further American action.

If this is the case, the debate about adding four brigades to Iraq is pathetic. The situation will get even hotter than it now is, worsening the American position and exposing the fact that to fight Iran both within the borders of Iraq and into Iranian territory, there are not enough troops in the theatre.

http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/001869.php


:grr:

[LSparkle]

1. This might explain why he acted so ... WEIRD last night

He looked SERIOUSLY disturbed, off his meds, whatever. More deer-in-the-headlights than even HIS usual. If he's done this -- with Dems in full-throated control of Congress and Repugs jumping ship like rats -- he's probably soiling himself wondering what happens when the u-no-whut hits the fan.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

23. may I disagree? politely?

I think he is SERIOUSLY disturbed to begin with.
Moreover, would he bother to tell America, even with a hint, about his total, global, domination, war effort? Naw. He has never told people about many of his secret presidential orders (and apparently, he has more than any previous president), not to mention his signing statements.

[Radio_Lady]

28. The OP should tell you... that post was from 7/22/2005 -- it's pretty old.

Just sayin'....

[Junkdrawer]

30. Huh? The Washington Note was from this afternoon...

:shrug:

[bananas]

36. No, it's dated today: January 11, 2007

Are you looking at the same article?

[FedUpWithIt All]

37. It mentions the raid today.

and is dated today.

:shrug:

[Radio_Lady]

43. UPDATE: Just caught up with this. I would have sworn it said July 2005...

but it doesn't tonight.

Sorry about that.

Radio_Lady in Oregon

[leveymg]

68. 24 hours after he posted this, there's no confirmation of any such Exec Order.

This would be the fastest leak in Washington. Nothing today to corroborate that rumor.

But, you are right, RLIO - we heard lots of similar rumors and threats during the summer of 2005. We're stuck inside as echo chamber.

[rodeodance]

60. yes, read Fridays also:

http://thewashingtonnote.com/

[LSparkle]

29. But now he's taken action with the Dems in a position to call him on it

You may be right but he just seemed to have the swagger taken out of him last night and I wondered if it wasn't the prospect of Dems having subpoena power to check into this.

[LynnTheDem]

53. May I politely correct one bit?

George w. bUsh has more secret orders & signing statements than ALL PREVIOUS PRESIDENTS COMBINED.

It's that "bringing integrity back to the White House" thang of his. :sarcasm:

Gawd I despise that MFer.

[madrchsod]

2. the senate made that perfectly clear this morning

also it`s clear that the military is feeding information to one senator on that panel...

[chimpymustgo]

21. Which Senator? I missed the testimony...

Thanks.

[madrchsod]

42. it was webb

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=3095834&mesg_id=3096589
Democratic Underground - Webb to Biden: "Marines are already being extended to support the 21500 troops" n/t

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=3095834&mesg_id=3096592
Democratic Underground - DID YOU SEE THAT LOOK CONDI JUST SHOT AT WEBB?

[chimpymustgo]

78. Thanks much! nt

nt

[orpupilofnature57]

3. Wouldn't be the first time the family that made misanthropy an art form

disregarded the law,Three generations working to undermine Democracy!http://tomflocco.com/Docs/63/BushJfkBookDepo.htm

[villager]

4. Then let's hope his "Cambodia" moment will soon be followed by Watergate

and the attendant resignation...

[LSparkle]

8. Hear, hear!

If history's going to repeat itself, then we want the "happy ending"!!!!!

[FVZA_Colonel]

55. This time, though,

let's make sure it goes all the way: no pardon!

[drm604]

14. Isn't it amazing

how like Vietnam this all is?

[kohodog]

41. Yeah, Nam on Steroids though.

The biggest difference between Vietnam and Iraq is improved body armor. Many of our severly wounded would have died in the field in the '60's. And if Bush turns his sights on Iran and Syria which is obviously on his agenda this will be far worse. We have an insane president and I find that truely frightening.

[Cheney Killed Bambi]

48. Improved medical care as well

Our medical doctors save a lot of soldiers who would have died had they suffered the same injuries in Viet Name. As a result, less soldiers die, but a higher number are grievously wounded.

[papau]

63. Only 157,000 new VA claims for the Pentagon's "20,000 wounded" lie

A Health care for vets special this week mentioned new Iraq based vet medical claims have increased backlog of unacted upon claims to 400,000 during the Bush administration.

One wonders who are the 157000 from the Iraq war who are not vets that were not wounded - or does the Pentagon lie - the video focused on a fellow with a leg missing - which would appear to be something one would classify as a "wound".

[Just-plain-Kathy]

58. I'm with you, but it's not happening fast enough.

Everyday Bush does something crazy...I wish the dems would set aside their first 100 hour agenda, and start a coup.

[tblue]

5. He's not trying to get out of the quagmire. He's trying to bury us deeper! So much money to be

made, so much war and chaos to cause, so much mail to read, so little time. He's only got 2 years and he's feeling abandoned and desperate. Okay, the madman's got me really scared now.

[orpupilofnature57]

10. Prescott did it ,Poppy did it, they know no other way.

[tblue]

16. It's called congenital greed. Power & money. Old as time. Except now, they have nukular weapons

[Bucky]

6. As someone who has dismissed "invade Iran" scenarios up to now...

I still don't think we're going to actually go to war with Iran. But just in case I may need to start googling for crow recipes. My certainty that we can't start a war with Iran has just dropped from 99% to about 90%. I keep telling myself... "they can't be that stupid; they can't be that stupid".

[tblue]

18. But they are that stupid, that's a fact. The move in Kuridistan was to provoke an attack and

justify US retaliation. God help us.

[Bucky]

49. It was certainly provocative. But things like this always have more than one intention.

It was certainly a case of goading Iran, but there would be other more immediate objectives--legit or (more probably) not. My guess is they had some evidence, possibly bogus or fed by people manipulating the US command, to suggest there was some documents worth reading in that consular office. Assuming there was a top-down coordination run by the White House on an action like is pretty much at odds with the entire Bush administration's history of screwing up everything they touch. But yes, their targeting of Iranian facilities in Iraq is clearly part of a ploy to drag Iran into deeper involvement with Iraq.

I suspect what they'd be justifying is sanctions (not direct attacks, which would still be economic suicide on our part) and maybe ginning up some embarrassing leverage against Iran, along with the usual neocon bullying.

[tblue]

79. Hope you're right and this isn't the start of the next war

[MissWaverly]

7. Could this be an attempt to shut down Libby trial

Hoping war will heat up, and then trial can be dispensed with claiming National Security
issues.

[tblue]

19. Could be. But that should be the least of our worries.

[MissWaverly]

25. Yes, but remember our Prez only operates on his own needs

our needs and the needs of other nations don't exist.

[Jcrowley]

9. K&R n/t

[Junkdrawer]

11. And then there's this

from a piece in "The American Conservative': (print edition only, no link)

The Pentagon, acting under instructions from Vice President Dick Cheney's office, has tasked the United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM) with drawing up a contingency plan to be employed in response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States. The plan includes a large-scale air assault on Iran employing both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons. Within Iran there are more than 450 major strategic targets, including numerous suspected nuclear-weapons-program development sites. Many of the targets are hardened or are deep underground and could not be taken out by conventional weapons, hence the nuclear option. As in the case of Iraq, the response is not conditional on Iran actually being involved in the act of terrorism directed against the United States. Several senior Air Force officers involved in the planning are reportedly appalled at the implications of what they are doing--that Iran is being set up for an unprovoked nuclear attack--but no one is prepared to damage his career by posing any objections.

http://www.justinlogan.com/justinlogancom/2005/07/what_is_the_pla.html

[Jacobin]

17. that's it. he's batshit crazy

Or should I say AEI and the PNACers are and the puppet is going along for the ride

[tblue]

20. I second that.

[Junkdrawer]

26. Setting the Stage: "Intel chief: Hezbollah may be next U.S. threat"...

WASHINGTON - Al-Qaida poses the gravest terrorist threat to the United States, and an emboldened Hezbollah is a growing danger, the U.S. intelligence chief said Thursday.

In his annual review of global threats, National Intelligence Director John Negroponte highlighted an increasingly worrisome assessment of Hezbollah — backed by Iran and Syria — since its 34-day war with Israel last year.

“As a result of last summer’s hostilities, Hezbollah’s self-confidence and hostility toward the United States as a supporter of Israel could cause the group to increase its contingency planning against United States interests,” Negroponte told the Senate Intelligence Committee.

He depicted a more multifaceted terrorist threat than in years past. Since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, U.S. spy agencies have stressed the threat from al-Qaida and associated Sunni extremist groups, rather than from Hezbollah and other Shiite Muslim groups.

....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16582063 /

[LynnTheDem]

54. " As in the case of Iraq, the response is not conditional on Iran actually being involved"

Right. Just like Iraq.

"Not involved...but let's kill em just coz we can!" The "christian" republics.

[Tom Joad]

12. Like the bombing of Laos & Cambodia by Nixon.

[dogday]

13. We're In Trouble

We're in big trouble.

Have a look at The Washington Note, whose latest begins like this:

Washington intelligence, military and foreign policy circles are abuzz today with speculation that the President, yesterday or in recent days, sent a secret Executive Order to the Secretary of Defense and to the Director of the CIA to launch military operations against Syria and Iran.

The President may have started a new secret, informal war against Syria and Iran without the consent of Congress or any broad discussion with the country.

If this is true, we're in very big trouble. Or, if the rumor was sparked by an order 'only' authorizing clandestine operations (or, worse, bombardment) as a form of provocation, this is serious stuff. But even if it's not at all true in any way, we're in pretty big trouble, as the spread of this rumor means we've reached a point in our politics when sober, quite moderate, people like Steve Clemons are starting at shadows.

I can only remember one time that felt like this: when Nixon was in the last weeks of his Presidency, and people -- including the then-Secretary of Defense-- got worried that Nixon might try to start a war to distract the country from his troubles, or even stage some sort of coup. People in DC even began to speculate as to what military forces could be assembled as a counterweight in the event that Nixon, rumored to be drunk and unstable, chose to subvert the Constitution.

http://www.discourse.net/archives/2007/01/were_in_trouble.html

on edit: story is also at Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-clemons/did-the-president-declare_b_38451.html

[IndyOp]

35. We need G.H.W.'s help - he told Nixon to resign, he can tell Jr.

After a couple of terms as a Congressman from Texas, Bush was appointed Ambassador to the United Nations by President Richard M. Nixon. Afterwards Nixon appointed him chairman of the Republican National Committee. So Bush spent Watergate as head of the Republican party. Oddly enough, as RNC chairman Bush had an (unofficial) office inside the White House. So anyway, Bush was the guy who ultimately had to ask Nixon to resign, which he was too chicken to do face-to-face. So he wrote a memo:

Dear Mr. President,

It is my considered judgment that you should now resign. I expect in your lonely embattled position this would seem to you as an act of disloyalty from one you have supported and helped in so many ways. My own view is that I would now ill serve a President whose massive accomplishments I will always respect and whose family I love, if I did not now give you my judgment. Until this moment resignation has been no answer at all, but given the impact of the latest development, and it will be a lasting one, I now firmly feel resignation is best for the country, best for this President. I believe this view is held by most Republican leaders across the country. This letter is much more difficult because of the gratitude I will always have for you. If you do leave office history will properly record your achievements with a lasting respect.

Nixon quit the following day, and Gerald Ford became President. In October 1974, Ford sent Bush to China as the second pseudo-ambassador to that country since Mao's revolution. Apparently, there wasn't much for him to do. When the Chinese wanted something from Washington, they didn't bother with Bush. They would just call up Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Bush was completely superfluous.

After spending a year sitting on his ass in China, Bush was tapped to head the Central Intelligence Agency in January 1976. He shuffled papers as Director of Central Intelligence for a year until Ford lost to Georgia governor Jimmy Carter. Consequently, Bush had four years of downtime.

http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/presidents/george-hw-bush/

[Jacobin]

15. Here's what Condi said about that this morning and its troubling

SEN. BIDEN: Last night, the president said, and I quote, "Succeeding in Iraq requires defending its territorial integrity and stabilizing the region in the face of extremist challenges, and that begins with addressing Iran and Syria." He went on to say, "We will interrupt the flow of support for Iran and Syria, and we will seek out and destroy networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq."

Does that mean the president has plans to cross the Syrian and/or Iranian border to pursue those persons or individuals or governments providing that help?

SEC. RICE: Mr. Chairman, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs was just asked this question, and I think he perhaps said it best. He talked about what we're really trying to do here which is to protect our forces and that we are doing that by seeking out these networks that we know are operating in Iraq. We are doing it through intelligence. We are then able, as we did on the 21st of December, to go after these groups where we find them. In that case, we then asked the Iraqi government to declare them persona non grata and expel them from the country because they were holding diplomatic passports.

But the -- what is really being contemplated here in terms of these networks is that we believe we can do what we need to do inside Iraq. Obviously, the president isn't going to rule anything out to protect our troops, but the plan is to take down these networks in Iraq.

The broader point is that we do have and we have always had as a country very strong interests and allies in the Gulf Region, and we do need to work with our allies to make certain that they have the defense capacity that they need against growing Iranian military build-up, that they fell that we are going to be a presence in the Persian Gulf Region as we have been, and that we establish confidence with the states with which we have long alliances, that we will help defend their interests. And that's what the president had in mind.

SEN. BIDEN: Secretary Rice, do you believe the president has the constitutional authority to pursue across the border into Iraq (sic/Iran) or Syria, the networks in those countries?

SEC. RICE: Well, Mr. Chairman, I think I would not like to speculate on the president's constitutional authority or to try and say anything that certainly would abridge his constitutional authority, which is broad as commander in chief.

I do think that everyone will understand that -- the American people and I assume the Congress expect the president to do what is necessary to protect our forces.

SEN. BIDEN: Madame Secretary, I just want to make it clear, speaking for myself, that if the president concluded he had to invade Iran or Iraq in pursuit of these -- or Syria -- in pursuit of these networks, I believe the present authorization granted the president to use force in Iraq does not cover that, and he does need congressional authority to do that. I just want to set that marker.

Worrisome.

[Kikosexy2]

24. He's pretty much...

doing it or plans on doing it...in any case...TIME TO IMPEACH!!

[Imagevision]

47. it appears Bush will attack Iran for whatever reaso, the carrier group isn't over their

for war games.... Plus the ships that left Norfolk & San Diego 10 days ago should be there by now.

[demigoddess]

75. when all else fails they always say they have to do it to protect the troops

They did that in Vietnam and they are doing it now. Pure bogus.

[Warren Stupidity]

76. It is in fact the Cambodian Excuse

These criminals have been replaying the vietnam war all along, proving to themselves that they can do it right this time and get the job done.

[originalpckelly]

22. Bush can't do this:

http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/warpower.htm

He must consult Congress.

[Quantess]

69. More correct to say

Bush musn't do this, or, Bush shouldn't do this. He can if he wants to.
He's too bratty to obey rules.

[greenbriar]

27. actions have already started

During Bushes speech...we raided and seized 5 iranians from iranian liason office
Edited on Thu Jan-11-07 05:42 PM by greenbriar
ABC news


told you he was past the point of no return.


that mother fucker is gonna get us all killed




In Irbil??? Lrbil???

[femrap]

39. He's going to destroy the planet as we know it. nt

[robertpaulsen]

31. Kicked, recommended and bookmarked!

This is very important for all here to see!

[Junkdrawer]

32. Kick

:kick:

[IndyOp]

33. Some of us remember 1970, Madame Secretary, and that was Cambodia,

SEN. HAGEL:

Some of us remember 1970, Madame Secretary, and that was Cambodia, and when our government lied to the American people and said we didn't cross the border going into Cambodia. In fact we did. I happen to know something about that, as do some on this committee.

So, Madame Secretary, when you set in motion the kind of policy that the president is talking about here, it's very, very dangerous. Matter of fact, I have to say, Madame Secretary, that I think this speech given last night by this president represents the most dangerous foreign policy blunder in this country since Vietnam, if it's carried out. I will resist it -- (interrupted by applause.)

Worrisome.

-- Steve Clemons

[KittyWampus]

44. Good God, HAGEL mentioned Cambodia...

[eppur_se_muova]

34. "informal war" ?? WTF is that ? Is that somehow less lethal than a formal war?

Or do the casualties just get buried in more comfortable clothes?

[Dead_Parrot]

38. No (kevlar) jacket required

At least, not for US troops. :(

[lyonn]

40. Lordy, does this sound like the PNAC plan or what?!

This is probably why this Iraq war plan seems so dumb. It's taking over the ME that is getting in their (PNACers) way. Bombs away....

[earth mom]

45. 3rd thread on this tonight...

and all I can think of is will Congress do a damn thing about it or not?

[HuffleClaw]

46. "the Consulate raid may have been designed to try and prompt a military response"

of COURSE it was. pretty damn blatant too. hence such scant coverage of it

[lala_rawraw]

50. i am going to start

beating my head against wall... THIS WAS REPORTED!!!

[FrenchieCat]

56. And mentioned many times by many, including Wes Clark, Sy Hersch,

and many who report on the progressive internet(s).

Guess some are gonna have to see the actual bomb go off televised before believing how out-to-lunch BushInc truly is--

...but I could tell by the way Bush was making sure that we understood that Iraq and Syria ain't our friends.....in his lousy speech yesterday that something was up.


I'll tell you, after Vietnam, anyone who believes that escalation is to key to success would also think it wise to bomb the shit out of another country while still fighting a losing war and Osama-Who and his friends who hate our guts enough to crash our planes into our building are still at large. Yep......they will "do" Iran if that's what they want to do alright.....no matter how crazy!

[Kablooie]

51. Maybe THIS will get people off their butts and start the impeachment.

[rodeodance]

61. just confuses many. IraN and IraQ

[LynnTheDem]

52. There aren't enough US troops on the planet to win against Iran.

And in self-defense, Iran will turn the Strait red with American blood.

Nations who never did a damn thing against us; nations who never threatened us. On the contrary, America is the nation making the threats and invasions.

WE ARE THE ENEMY.

[MilesColtrane]

73. Re: Not enough troops

That's why Bush is itching to go nuclear.

We are fucked.

[LynnTheDem]

74. Big time fucked; bush goes nukular and even Tony the bLiar won't

be with us.

[Kelly Rupert]

57. And also may have declared war against Vermont and California.

However, he probably didn't.

[rodeodance]

59. lots to read and digest:

http://thewashingtonnote.com/

[rodeodance]

62. Most Important Parts of Bush Speech About Iran -- Not Iraq

http://thewashingtonnote.com/

January 12, 2007

Note from Flynt Leverett: Most Important Parts of Bush Speech About Iran -- Not Iraq

(New America Foundation Senior Fellow and Geopolitics of Energy Initiative Director Flynt Leverett: photo credit: NewsHour with Jim Lehrer)

I asked former CIA and Bush administration National Security Council senior official Flynt Leverett for a quick summary of his thoughts on President Bush's Address to the Nation.

Here is Flynt Leverett's response to The Washington Note:

The most important things that President Bush said last night dealt with Iran, not Iraq:
According to the President, the Iranians are providing "material support" to attacks on U.S. forces. That is a casus belli. It fits in with the administration's escalating campaign -- encompassing rhetoric and detentions of Iranian officials in Iraq -- to blame Iran for a strategically significant part of the ongoing instability and violence in Iraq.
In the context of describing the deployment of additional U.S. forces to Iraq, the President also noted the importance of securing Iraq's borders. I suspect that at least some of the additional U.S. soldiers going to Iraq will end up on the border with Iran.

[npincus]

64. F*ck. WHO is supposed to fight this war? With whose money?

[PATRICK]

65. No intended invasion

is also a possible interpretation, but that all this baiting of Iran even with "secret" incursions is merely to provide any form of context for a terrible air strike, some tantalizing new game for gain possibly worked out way in advance with Israel. From then on the need to defend exposed troops takes over
as the new distraction, conveniently keeping the occupation as oil source, hostage for the Bush agenda.

As such things are continuing to give him way on this and are calculated to raise the stakes against future opposition in the wake of a greater catastrophic mess. Ultimately Bush is insane, but more than enough passive slack is always cut to let him forge ahead with all the requisite ease and impunity toward utter tragedy for us all.

The article might be reading a bit more calculation into this than the crew is able to pull off. Merely doing the raid is its own end, success in the small or not. Someone keeps coming up with the responsible intelligent clever interpretation that these cowards would never rely on.

[The Count]

66. No wonder Condi didn't wnt to limit *'s "authority" when Biden asked

Glad that Hagel pounced on it too.

[GAtomboy]

67. This is not some game!!!

When will this sorry excuse for a president realize this is not a game of Risk or some video game...these are REAL lives being lost and real money he's soaking into this war.

WHY hasn't he been impeached yet?!?!

[Norquist Nemesis]

70. How much do you bet that the US Embassy rocket links back to Iran

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/G/GREECE_US_EMBASSY?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=HOME
The 2.36-inch rocket, which police said was a weapon probably fired from a Russian-made launcher, struck a large marble beam on the third floor of the embassy, just above and to the left of the seal.

A military official in Washington said there was no reason to believe that the attack was al-Qaida-related. The official is not authorized to speak on the subject and requested anonymity. A U.S. intelligence official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing, said there was no information that suggests a follow-up attack.

[Slothrope]

71. It gets better - U.S. F-16 jet-fighters arrived Thursday in Incirlik

Air base in southern Turkish city of Adan. Troops to Iraq. Second carrier to the Gulf.

Yep. Something's up.

[mzmolly]

72. Ok, screw investigations impeach this bastard.

I'm a former "we must investigate" member, if this is true, I've just been converted.

[McCamy Taylor]

77. Agree. If W. tries secret incursion into Iran--impeach W. and Cheney.

America will applaud.