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Seymour Hersch, in two fine New Yorker articles, thoroughly examines nuclear proliferation in the Middle East and Bush's plan to do something about it. In the most recent one, Hersch, warns us that we may be boarding the midterm election military-go-round with a new battlecry: "Bring Up The President's Poll Ratings By Nuking Iran". 
Here are excerpts from that article:
"There is a growing conviction among members of the United States military, and in the international community, that President Bush’s ultimate goal in the nuclear confrontation with Iran is regime change. Iran’s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has challenged the reality of the Holocaust and said that Israel must be “wiped off the map.” Bush and others in the White House view him as a potential Adolf Hitler, a former senior intelligence official said. “That’s the name they’re using. They say, ‘Will Iran get a strategic weapon and threaten another world war?’ ”
"A government consultant with close ties to the civilian leadership in the Pentagon said that Bush was “absolutely convinced that Iran is going to get the bomb” if it is not stopped. He said that the President believes that he must do “what no Democrat or Republican, if elected in the future, would have the courage to do,” and “that saving Iran is going to be his legacy.”
“This is much more than a nuclear issue,” one high-ranking diplomat told me in Vienna. “That’s just a rallying point, and there is still time to fix it. But the Administration believes it cannot be fixed unless they control the hearts and minds of Iran. The real issue is who is going to control the Middle East and its oil in the next ten years.”
"In recent weeks, the President has quietly initiated a series of talks on plans for Iran with a few key senators and members of Congress, including at least one Democrat. A senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, who did not take part in the meetings but has discussed their content with his colleagues, told me that there had been “no formal briefings,” because “they’re reluctant to brief the minority. They’re doing the Senate, somewhat selectively.”
"The House member said that no one in the meetings “is really objecting” to the talk of war. “The people they’re briefing are the same ones who led the charge on Iraq. At most, questions are raised: How are you going to hit all the sites at once? How are you going to get deep enough?” (Iran is building facilities underground.) “There’s no pressure from Congress” not to take military action, the House member added. “The only political pressure is from the guys who want to do it.” Speaking of President Bush, the House member said, “The most worrisome thing is that this guy has a messianic vision.”
An evangelical elephant as Junie says?
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/060417fa_fact
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?040308fa_fact
Oh, and I see you've already accumulated a -25 so I guess we know who's sneaking about whacking the scores without comment. Thought I heard a bleat or two - maybe he's searching for reviews of his performance on AAR.
Me, I listened to Car Talk, learned something.
This article is scary beyond belief! Secret meetings with members of Congress, including one Democrat? Hah! Wouldn't be an average Joe would it?
However, when the balloon goes up, Bush can say he briefed Congress.
I'll be back after I read Hersch's stuff. Good to have you back with those wonderful graphics!
A high 10, my man!
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