As a practical matter, the only thing standing between Bush's apocalyptic military fantasies and the destruction of thousands of innocent lives in Iran is the officer corps of the US Air Force. These are the people who have prepared the detailed plans for attacks on thousands of targets in Iran, and these are the officers who will be tasked with carrying out the plans.
If US Air Force generals obey Bush's order to launch a massive attack on Iran, they will be commiting the war crimes of plannning and fighting a war of aggression. Unlike Bush's shadowy network of backers and puppet-masters, the officers of the US Air Force are publicly identified figures. There is a slim hope that by communicating to them the illegal character of what they are about to undertake, they may be persuaded to abandon this attack plan. Here are some suggestions toward that end.
1. The legal profession should communicate, though public advertisements, press statements, and letters, that US Air Force officers will be vulnerable to international prosecution as war criminals if they launch an unprovoked attack on Iran.
2. The US Congress should pass resolutions advising Air Force officers of their responsibility not to obey illegal orders, including those that would result in war crimes.
3. Retired Air Force personnel should contact their serving counterparts and persuade them not to initiate a potentially catastrophic attack on Iran.
4. News organizations should publicly identify the Air Force officers in the chain of command that would execute a massive attack on Iran, so that citizens may attempt to dissuade them.
5. All Congressmen opposed to an unprovoked attack on Iraq should inform senior US Air Force officers that their careers will be ended if they are shown to have advocated such an attack on Iran.
It is a sad commentary on the state of our country that our final reliance for the preservation of peace will be the integrity and sound judgement of the US officer corps, but that appears to be our current situation. I earnestly hope that these men and women will not initiate a military catastrophe that dwarfs the fiasco in Iraq.