This is frightening

[riona]

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0410-26.htm

Yes He Would
by Paul Krugman

"......As Joseph Cirincione of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace recently pointed out, the administration seems to be following exactly the same script on Iran that it used on Iraq: "The vice president of the United States gives a major speech focused on the threat from an oil-rich nation in the Middle East. The U.S. secretary of state tells Congress that the same nation is our most serious global challenge. The secretary of defense calls that nation the leading supporter of global terrorism. The president blames it for attacks on U.S. troops."

Why might Mr. Bush want another war? For one thing, Mr. Bush, whose presidency is increasingly defined by the quagmire in Iraq, may believe that he can redeem himself with a new Mission Accomplished moment.

And it's not just Mr. Bush's legacy that's at risk. Current polls suggest that the Democrats could take one or both houses of Congress this November, acquiring the ability to launch investigations backed by subpoena power. This could blow the lid off multiple Bush administration scandals. Political analysts openly suggest that an attack on Iran offers Mr. Bush a way to head off this danger, that an appropriately timed military strike could change the domestic political dynamics."

Does this sound far-fetched? It shouldn't. Given the combination of recklessness and dishonesty Mr. Bush displayed in launching the Iraq war, why should we assume that he wouldn't do it again?

[patrice]

1. What they're counting on is that once something is started,

there's nothing we can do but go forward with it, no matter how much we'd rather not.

[MADem]

2. And ya know what? They've got the regime leader already picked out!

http://www.rezapahlavi.org/index.htm

He's doing what Khomeini did, sending tapes into the country. Only his are high-end, slickly produced videos...his message is crafted to appeal to people who want more goods and services, more freedom, and targets the youth, which is the largest portion of the population who are getting sick and tired of the "Footloose" draconian atmosphere. They're all Kevin Bacons in a mean, repressive society!

And we know he has help. It's a foregone conclusion.

The older he gets, the more he looks like his daddy--I remember when he was just a kid:

[NYC]

3. The Shah, Jr.

Incredible, isn't it?

[MADem]

4. He insists that he is the Shah in Exile

He meets with the nutsos in Congress, and the fuckers call him "Your Majesty."

He's the designated hitter, make no mistake. He's like a Chalabi, but with a much better education, a better political style, no skeletons in his closet (his father's skeletons notwithstanding--he was still a kid when the exile went down) and a smidge more enthusiasm on the ground for him--simply because he'd loosen some of the restrictive rules that have the youth chafing at the bit for change. And he is smooth as silk!

They're looking to resume a Constitutional Monarchy...and you know the mullahs aren't gonna want that to happen. The key to it all will be who they pick to be the Prime Minister, and if they can show the country some serious improvement in a hurry. Oh joy, more US dollars poured down another shithole! Also, they need to find a way to keep the US in the background--and that is damn near impossible. The whole concept is just...mind-boggling. I don't see how they expect to get away with it, unless they flip the military, reinstall a draconian regime, and "pretend" that it is a Constitutional Monarchy that is reform-minded.

Kinda like they did the last time when they gave Mossadeq the boot and put in Muhammed Reza...of course, nowadays, they have more cameras, and people will take pictures of the Iranians waving dollar bills provided to them by covert operatives as they cheer the new Shah's triumphant arrival (that actually happened last time around).