[Israeli] Army Radio had quoted a top official in Jerusalem claiming that a senior member in the entourage of President Bush, who concluded a trip to Israel last week, had said in a closed meeting here that Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were of the opinion that military action against Iran was called for.
The official reportedly went on to say that “the hesitancy of Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice” was preventing the administration from deciding to launch such an attack on the Islamic Republic for the time being.
The Army Radio report, which was quoted by The Jerusalem Post and resonated widely, stated that according to assessments in Israel, the recent turmoil in Lebanon, where Hizbullah has de facto established control of the country, was advancing an American attack.
Iran spurs arms race: 13 Mideast states have advanced nuclear programs
Bush, the official reportedly said, considered Hizbullah’s show of strength to constitute evidence of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s growing influence. In Bush’s view, the official said, “the disease must be treated - not its symptoms.”
The White House denies it, but then they would. But who knows?
Offhand, it sounds like a mindfuck to me, but I can’t imagine whose mind is being fucked with. All these guys are so twisty they have to put their pants on with a corkscrew.
Front page
I fear an October Surprise
And we can’t trust an inexperienced empty suit to be CinC during a war, right?
Vote for the war hero instead - better safe than sorry.
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“The Clintons’ biggest failure is that they couldn’t get their own party to support them.” - Bartcop
yup--surprise!!!!
(not)
Questionable reporting here
JP is quoting Israel Radio, which quotes an unnamed Israeli official who quotes a “senior member” in Bush’s entourage. Why couldn’t JP do its own reporting?
JP also reports that Gates and Rice were able to prevent the administration from attacking Iran “for the time being.” Since when do Bush & Cheney allow that to happen?
And a funny thing happened on the way to the Jerusalem Post. The link in Lambert’s post takes you to a different story now:
White House denies Iran attack report
This story was in Haaretz
last week. I wrote about it then.
It’s up on my blog. But my blog is down because it got hit by traffic on the story I wrote this morning on Obama and his two very different statements on Iran yesterday. In Portland, it was Iran “doesn’t pose a serious threat.” In Billings, MT, Iran is “a grave threat.”
My post has been picked up NoQuarter USA. You can read there while I try to figure my bandwidth issues.