Springtime for Tehran and Iran

Or so Bush and Cheney have planned:

US preparations for an air strike against Iran are at an advanced stage, in spite of repeated public denials by the Bush administration, according to informed sources in Washington.

The present military build-up in the Gulf would allow the US to mount an attack by the spring. But the sources said that if there was an attack, it was more likely next year, just before Mr Bush leaves office.

Neo-conservatives, particularly at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, are urging Mr Bush to open a new front against Iran. So too is the vice-president, Dick Cheney. The state department and the Pentagon are opposed, as are Democratic congressmen and the overwhelming majority of Republicans. The sources said Mr Bush had not yet made a decision. The Bush administration insists the military build-up is not offensive but aimed at containing Iran and forcing it to make diplomatic concessions. The aim is to persuade Tehran to curb its suspect nuclear weapons programme and abandon ambitions for regional expansion.

Paranoia is necessary

when you see who is at the helm of our nation, driving us to ruin.

Update: Talking Points Memo notices:
"As I watch TV news and commentary and listen on NPR, I see the face of Fred Kagan, Dan Senor, even the voice of Richard Perle, and I wonder if it is a new year at all. We have seen some of these faces before, and they all represent past failures. We have seen these before when the Bush administration was attempting to sell us a product, a box of goodies with 3 word slogans on the label and inside there was nothing( unless you count death and debt as a product).

After reading the Lugar interview on Fox, it would appear that the Republican establishment, such as it is, needs to go sit down with Bush and tell him that the American Enterprise Institute was not on the ballot in November and won no elections. The few politicians that represent it's views do not hold a majority. If it takes Bush more time to develop a strategy, perhaps it is because they cannot come up with a suitable 3 word sell phrase( as war on terror, cut and run, stay the course) with which to package the product. Once again we are being treated as mindless consumers that do not notice the product in the box is the same old tired thing that did not work the first 6 times it was tried."