Linkage
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Posted by James Wolcott
05.16.05 7:13PM
jameswolcott.com
In an interview two months ago with Raw Story, former weapons inspector Scott Ritter raged against the neocons as godless parasites whose only gift is for destruction. He argued that the mission of Bush appointees--Rice at the State Department, Paul Wolfowitz at the World Bank--is to undermine and subvert the very institutions they run to render them ineffectual and incapable of resistance. And Bolton as the U.S.'s UN representative? Same deal. "A high level source, a NeoCon at that, within the system has said to me directly that John Bolton's job is to destroy the UN..."
Sounds a bit overheated, but the invaluable Steve Clemons who has waged a noble campaign against Bolton at The Washingon Note has come to the same stark conclusion:
"Now that we know that Frank Gaffney, David Frum, Gary Bauer, and others at ConfirmBolton.com are worried about North Korea and Iran -- what is their strategy -- other than sending Bolton to the U.N.?
"The fact is that they have no strategy -- that is apparent to TWN yet -- on how to credibly confront and/or preempt the further creep of North Korea's and Iran's nuclear pretensions.
"Their goal is to focus on blowing up the United Nations by using North Korea and Iran confrontations that run the risk of yet again dividing the U.S. and Europe.
"Their goal is not to look at the combination of policy initiatives, including efforts at the U.N., to deal with the substantive threats posed by North Korea and Iran.
"It's all about kicking apart the United Nations, reformed or not."
And what will that achieve, aside from satisfying the neocon lust for wreckage? At antiwar.com Jude Wanniski provides the answer:
"My reliable sources tell me it is because there is a timetable that makes it urgent for Bolton to be ready for action in June in order to cripple the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) as part of the plan to bomb the Iranian nuclear power plant at Bushehr. That's because Bushehr, under construction with Russian supervision, will soon be ready to receive the Russian fissionable material enabling it to produce power...
"On a recent, quite incredible Fox News special, Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney said we are already moving aircraft carriers into positions from which we could strike. He was then asked: 'If you had to put a percentage on it, the chances that the U.S. will eventually have to take military actions against Iran, what would you put it at?' to which McInerney replied casually: 'Well, I would put 1 percent of using ground forces, boots on the ground in Iran, I would put up 50 percent on a blockade, and I would put up 50 to 60 percent on precision air strikes on their nuclear development sites.' He also observed casually that Iran wouldn't dare take on the United States. Perhaps the 60 million Iranians would greet our bombers with garlands and sweets. Do you see what I mean? Fox News, as you may know, is commonly known as 'The War Channel,' for similar work it did in promoting the war against Iraq.
"Is Iran this kind of threat to anyone? As far as I can tell, ladies and gentlemen..., the answer is 'absolutely not,' at least as long as they remain members in good standing of the NPT, which means they will permit the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to inspect intrusively and constantly, as they have been doing. It has been the mission of John Bolton and his underling Stephen Rademaker to 'reform' the United Nations in a way that dissolves the NPT and the need for the IAEA, not only to pave the way for the bombing of Bushehr, but also to get out from under the NPT provisions that require all the nuclear weapon powers to make progress toward making the world a nuclear-free zone...
"For good measure, I'd hope those of you who are reading this memo to the GOP senators and are among their constituents would urge them to take a second look before they send Bolton to the United Nations. His mission is not to clean up the so-called 'Oil-for-Food Scandal' or promote UNICEF gift cards. It is to bomb the nuclear facilities in Iran after undermining the work of IAEA and the need for the NPT."
Right on cue, the National Review editorializes that "Diplomacy's Over" when it comes to Iran. Now is the time for action. "Congress is considering legislation that would tighten existing U.S. sanctions, prevent U.S. subsidiaries from doing business in Iran, and reduce aid to countries whose businesses invest there. The threat of precision military strikes also remains on the table, as it should; the Pentagon recently announced that it plans to sell Israel 100 'bunker-buster' bombs, which can attack underground facilities such as those reportedly used by Iran. And of course there is Iran’s pro-democratic population, which may be the United States’ greatest weapon against the mullahs."
Until the neocons fuck this up as badly as they did Iraq, and the Iranians turn against us too. |
