CIA Chief Warns of Iran Nukes, Saudis Prepare For Fallout ?
Tue Apr 01, 2008 at 07:00:19 AM PDT
[hat tip to Dr. Bruce Prescott, of Mainstream Baptist, who expresses the proper note of alarm and moral outrage in This Can't be happening Again ]
As the Agency French Presse reports,
[last Sunday, March 30] CIA chief Michael Hayden expressed his personal belief Sunday that Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapons program, but also stood by the agency's assessment that the program was suspended in 2003.
"Personal belief, yes. It's hard for me to explain. This is not court of law stuff," the Central Intelligence Agency director said on NBC television.
So, Hayden is saying he has a "hunch" that Iran has nuclear weapons programs, but he has no actual evidence. That seems a weasel-ish tactic aimed out inserting nuclear alarmism back into the national dialog, and I wouldn't have written on it for that very reason but also consider what William R. Polk, at Juan Cole's website, wrote on March 20th about a US News and World report on signs indicating a possible build up towards war
And, let's couple Hayden's very recent nuke-fear boosterism with a possibly disturbing report alleging that Saudi Arabia is discussing plans to do with nuclear fallout. As Jim P. summed it up in a March 24 Daily Kos post,
According to Chris Floyd at Empire Burlesque,
... the Saudi government is now preparing plans to deal with "any sudden nuclear and radioactive hazards" that may arise from an attack on Iran's nuclear reactors. This was reported by a top Saudi newspaper, Okaz, and relayed by a leading German news service [NOTE: the original wire service report has since been pulled down from the Internet. It originally read,
"The Saudi-based King Abdul-Aziz City for Science and Technology has prepared a proposal that encapsulates the probabilities of leaking nuclear and radiation hazards in case of any unexpected nuclear attacks in Iran, the Okaz Saudi newspaper said."] dpa -- one day after Dick Cheney paid a visit to the kingdom. As we noted, no one knows exactly what was said at that confab of allied authoritarians -- but something sure lit a fire under the Saudis, and convinced them that urgent action is needed to brace for the lethal overspill from a strike on Iran.
Floyd points out that nothing in Saudi Arabia becomes the top news story without government approval. That such a story should be released the day after Cheney's visit, sends a message to everyone about what is on Cheney's mind.
Combined with the dismissal of Fallon, Petreus' claim to have evidence (which he doesn't produce) that Iran was responsible for the recent shelling of the Green Zone, and the Egyptian report that a nuclear sub has been ordered by Bush into the Gulf, the bleak picture in both Pakistan and Afghanistan (accelerating collapse of Musharraf's power and strategy, the coming spring offensive in the Taliban's announced drive for Kabu), ...
plus the oft-stated desire of Bush and Cheney to attack Iran, and, as noted by former mideast policy official William K. Polk at Juan Cole's site just a few days ago, the last time Cheney visited the nations he visited this time was right before the Iraq attack.
plus, only a moron would deny that Bush and Dick have nothing but contempt for the will of the people, congress and the courts, and crave war like a junkie craves his fix,
AND
the coming Presidential election
well, add all that together...
Polk's essay linked above is a very compelling assembly of all the reasons it looks like an Iran attack is in the making and will soon be launched. I can only hope the Saudi King looked at Dick Cheny and said "Go fuck yourself.'
...Which of our candidates, who among our Democratic leadership, will speak out strongly to stop this coming nightmare?
We need leaders who have the courage to publicly call Michael Hayden out for his irresponsible and inflammatory "personal" statements that go radically against the recent National Intelligence Assessment on Iran's nuclear weapons program (discontinued in 2003).
And, we need leaders with the guts to publicly ask - "Why might the Saudis be discussing preparing for nuclear fallout ?", especially following a visit to Saudi Arabia from Dick Cheney.
At the very least, and this is the less dramatic assessment, the Saudis could be seen as sending up a very, very big and bright flare which says : Cheney is a madman who might start the next [nuclear] world war. TAKE NOTE.
I've been reassured that things are "under control" in the Pentagon but incidents such as these lead me to question the balance of institutional power and, it goes without saying at this late stage, it's been well established that the utopian Neocon maximal-war mongers in and associated with the Bush Administration just don't know when to stop.
We need leaders with the courage to call Hayden, Bush and Cheney to the mat, to demand an explanation. American Democracy and the wellbeing of the Earth demand it
Best,
Bruce Wilson
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