http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_william__070320_war_without_win_3a__a_.htm..........
In fact, Bush did establish the highly secret Iran Syria Policy and Operations Group last year to coordinate efforts to "contain" Iran and to project strength, rather than to seek compromise or dialogue. Led by deputy national security advisor Elliott Abrams and assisted by the Vice President's daughter, Elizabeth Cheney, the Group's mission includes the demonization and isolation of Iran, providing funds to groups seeking the overthrow of its government, and transferring military hardware to surrounding countries, including advance missile defense systems.
Much like a bully with a chip on his shoulder, it appears that Bush is looking for any excuse to attack Iran, either as a diversion for his failures in Afghanistan and Iraq or in deference to the wishes of Israel and Saudi Arabia. Bush's own National Security Council Director for Iranian and Persian Gulf affairs from 2001 to 2004, Hillary Mann Leverett, recently accused Bush of "trying to push a provocative, accidental conflict" with Iran as a pretext to justify "limited strikes" against its nuclear and military infrastructures, rather than "an all-out invasion like what happened in Iraq."
Rather than admit his failures in Iraq, Bush is now seeking to blame the Iranians for the continued rebellion against his occupation, the civil war engendered by his invasion, and the ineptitude of the government he put in place in Iraq. Even though the vast majorities of the "insurgents" are Sunni and are supported by the Saudis, Bush is now blaming Shiite Iran for training attackers and supplying "explosively formed penetrators" used in roadside attacks.
Although Secretary of State Rice and Secretary of Defense Gates have stated that the U.S. has proof of Iranian government responsibility for the supply of such weapons, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Pace stated that he "would not say by what I know that the Iranian government clearly knows or is complicit."
Bush has authorized the arrest and killing of Iranians found in Iraq and has stated, "If Iran escalates its military action in Iraq to the detriment of our troops and/or innocent Iraqi people, we will respond firmly." More than 500 Iranians have been arrested in Iraq in recent months, many of them humanitarian and aid workers, and U.S. soldiers attacked an Iranian liaison office in Kurdistan and arrested five men claimed to have diplomatic immunity by Iran.
The battle group led by the aircraft carrier USS John Stennis, including additional minesweepers, recently joined the USS Eisenhower battle group on patrol in the Persian Gulf. In addition the large number of submarines operating in the Gulf has increased the number of accidents involving civilian ships. Most telling is Bush's recent appointment of Vice Admiral William J. "Fox" Fallon as the replacement of General John Abizaid as the head of Central Command. Fallon is a pilot specially trained in naval and air operations.
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