- According to White House and Washington Beltway insiders,
the Bush administration, worried that it could lose the presidential election
to Senator John F. Kerry, has initiated plans to launch a military strike
on Iran's top Islamic leadership, its nuclear reactor at Bushehr on the
Persian Gulf, and key nuclear targets throughout the country, including
the main underground research site at Natanz in central Iran and another
in Isfahan. Targets of the planned U.S. attack reportedly include mosques
in Tehran, Qom, and Isfahan known by the U.S. to headquarter Iran's top
mullahs.
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- The Iran attack plan was reportedly drawn up after internal
polling indicated that if the Bush administration launched a so-called
anti-terrorist attack on Iran some two weeks before the election, Bush
would be assured of a landslide win against Kerry. Reports of a pre-emptive
strike on Iran come amid concerns by a number of political observers that
the Bush administration would concoct an "October Surprise" to
influence the outcome of the presidential election.
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- According to White House sources, the USS John F. Kennedy
was deployed to the Arabian Sea to coordinate the attack on Iran. Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld discussed the Kennedy's role in the planned attack
on Iran when he visited the ship in the Arabian Sea on October 9. Rumsfeld
and defense ministers of U.S. coalition partners, including those of Albania,
Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Georgia,
Hungary, Iraq, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Mongolia, Poland, Qatar, Romania,
and Ukraine briefly discussed a very "top level" view of potential
dual-track military operations in Iran and Iraq in a special "war
room" set up on board the aircraft carrier. America's primary ally
in Iraq, the United Kingdom, did not attend the planning session because
it reportedly disagrees with a military strike on Iran. London also suspects
the U.S. wants to move British troops from Basra in southern Iraq to the
Baghdad area to help put down an expected surge in Sh'ia violence in Sadr
City and other Sh'ia areas in central Iraq when the U.S. attacks Iran as
well as clear the way for a U.S. military strike across the Iraqi-Iranian
border aimed at securing the huge Iranian oil installations in Abadan.
U.S. allies South Korea, Australia, Kuwait, Jordan, Italy, Netherlands,
and Japan were also left out of the USS John F. Kennedy planning discussions
because of their reported opposition to any strike on Iran.
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- In addition, Israel has been supplied by the United States
with 500 "bunker buster" bombs. According to White House sources,
the Israeli Air Force will attack Iran's nuclear facility at Bushehr with
the U.S. bunker busters.The joint U.S.-Israeli pre-emptive military move
against Iran reportedly was crafted by the same neo-conservative grouping
in the Pentagon and Vice President Dick Cheney's office that engineered
the invasion of Iraq.
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- Morale aboard the USS John F. Kennedy is at an all-time
low, something that must be attributable to the knowledge that the ship
will be involved in an extension of U.S. military actions in the Persian
Gulf region. The Commanding Officer of an F-14 Tomcat squadron was relieved
of command for a reported shore leave "indiscretion" in Dubai
and two months ago the Kennedy's commanding officer was relieved for cause.
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- The White House leak about the planned attack on Iran
was hastened by concerns that Russian technicians present at Bushehr could
be killed in an attack, thus resulting in a wider nuclear confrontation
between Washington and Moscow. International Atomic Energy Agency representatives
are also present at the Bushehr facility. In addition, an immediate Iranian
Shahab ballistic missile attack against Israel would also further destabilize
the Middle East. The White House leaks about the pre-emptive strike may
have been prompted by warnings from the CIA and the Defense Intelligence
Agency that an attack on Iran will escalate out of control. Intelligence
circles report that both intelligence agencies are in open revolt against
the Bush White House.
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- White House sources also claimed they are "terrified"
that Bush wants to start a dangerous war with Iran prior to the election
and fear that such a move will trigger dire consequences for the entire
world.
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- Wayne Madsen is a Washington, DC-based investigative
journalist and columnist. He served in the National Security Council (NSA)
during the Reagan Administration and wrote the introduction to Forbidden
Truth. He is the co-author, with john Stanton of "America's Nightmare:
The Presidency of George Bush II." His forthcoming book is titled:
"jaded Tasks: Big Oil, Black Ops, and Brass Plates." Madsen can
be reached at Wmadsen777@aol.com
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