Yesterday I and many Kommenters
speculated on recent deployments to the Gulf being in anticipation of a broader war on Iran and Syria. This morning, before I had my first sip of coffee, I heard the unwelcome voice of the Prince of Darkness, Richard Perle, in my kitchen.
"I don't believe that a different military strategy would have affected significantly the way things have evolved in Iraq. What would have made significant difference would have been a different political strategy. And unfortunately the errors in Iraq policy - and there are many - are errors of political judgement.
I certainly do not believe Rumsfeld should resign. I think he has done an excellent job under the very difficult circumstances of Iraq. We are attempting to deal with the Iraq problem within the borders of Iraq when much of the problem originates and is significantly affected by Iran and Syria for example. And no decision has been made to take action against either Iran or Syria. Rumsfeld has been forced to paint on a canvas that is simply too small."
The
Richard Perle clip can be heard online at
BBC Radio 4's Today Programme, at 2:30:00 for about two minutes.
"Errors of political strategy" seems to imply that Perle believes that Iraq would have been fine if his good buddy Ahmad Chalabi had been installed as dictator as originally planned. The objective of handing over power to Chalabi within 6 months of invasion was the justification for denying the need for post-war occupation planning in the Pentagon. I suppose Perle also thinks Iran's occupation will be fine and dandy if his other good buddy Manucher Ghorbanifar is installed as dictator there - or may be mini-Shah Pahlavi Junior.
If you want to listen to an excellent series of journals on modern Iran, BBC Radio 4 is running a season of programmes called Uncovering Iran. The few I've heard have been very insightful. All Radio 4 programming is available free online from the BBC Radio 4 website.
Yesterday's diary: 20,000 Sailors Go To War - Massive US and Allied Naval Deployment. While there is rational criticism of the history and analysis in the article provided there, many of the comments by fellow Kossacks living near military bases or having family in the military provide chilling confirmation that something serious is underway.
Update [2006-10-4 11:27:31 by LondonYank]: Two important diaries to link on Iran today:
Steven D's excellent Ayatollah Khomeini and Iran's Nuclear Dreams
Rippe's chilling Stratfor analysis Iran's Plan to Swing the Election to Democrats - which almost sets the stage for a false flag attack on US troops or ships to be blamed on Iran.