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Bush is forced to plot his war against Iran in a thinly veiled cloak of secrecy because he knows that he would get no support for it were he to ask for it. This is the first time in American history that a president is bent to starting a war without congressional authorization or even public consensus. At least he had the IWR as a fig leaf when he sent troops into Iraq.
He wouldn't get congressional approval if he asked for it. If he were to start public discussion on going to war against Iran, his numbers would soon fall to the low twenties.
He really can't just start the war, either. If he did, more people would support his impeachment than would support him.
What should really bother us is that Bush has no credibility. He shot his wad over Iraq. Except for die hard Bush babies, no one will believe him if he cries "wolf" again. That is a very dangerous situation. Suppose Iran were more of a threat than we think? Would any one be willing to take Bush's word for it? If he presented facts, would any one believe them genuine? If he presented documents, would any one think they are not forged?
Most of us, I included, do not believe Iran is an immediate threat and that military action would not be justified at this time. Whether necessary or not, a war against Iran would be more difficult and costly than was the war against Iraq. Iran is three time the size of Iraq with about that many more people; Ahmediniejad may by off his rocker, but he is not a brutal tyrant like Saddam and he is president because more Iranian voters thought he was a better choice than the next candidate. There is even less reason to suppose Iranians will greet American troops as liberators than there was to suppose Iraqis did; there is even more reason to suppose the Iranian people will fiercely resist a foreign occupation of their country than Iraqis did.
Invading Iran is not something to be done without due consideration for no better reason than to keep Mr. Bush in the White House any longer than this.
If we recall Aesop's story of the boy who cried "wolf" then we note that at the end there really was a wolf. In a twist of irony, the boy died because every one assumed he was playing another prank. Aesop doesn't tell us whether any lambs were carried off, but no doubt the wolf was more interested in the flock (lambs taste better than shepherds) and the boy died defending it. Perhaps the prankster was not regarded as a great loss, but the wolf's loot could have fed a hungry family in the village.
This could have been avoided by replacing the boy with a more reliable shepherd.
We cannot and should not wait for January 20, 2009 to replace Bush and Cheney with a Commander-in-Chief who will be believed when he or she says that Iran is an immediate threat immediate military action is needed to deal with it. It is not likely that a reliable Commander-in-Chief will say so between now and then, but we have no reliable Commander-in-Chief but a dangerous prankster who will say anything.
Bush and Cheney must be impeached and removed now.
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