"Wild speculation" is the phrase that pays
Sometimes I wonder if the folks at the White House have a bet on who can get the daily talking point reprinted in the most newspapers.
Funny, in all the repetitions of calling Hersh's reporting "wild speculation," there's no actual denial by anybody that it's true.
(And remember, Hersh wasn't the only one reporting about planning for strikes, the NYTimes had one, and the WaPo had two over the weekend. I'm still really torn as to whether this was an intelligence/political operation designed to scare the bejesus out of the Iranians that just got out of hand, or whether the planning hit some new plateau and worried insiders, seeing the insanity of it, called every reporter they knew. Frankly, I think it was a bit of both. Opinions?)
Funny, in all the repetitions of calling Hersh's reporting "wild speculation," there's no actual denial by anybody that it's true.
(And remember, Hersh wasn't the only one reporting about planning for strikes, the NYTimes had one, and the WaPo had two over the weekend. I'm still really torn as to whether this was an intelligence/political operation designed to scare the bejesus out of the Iranians that just got out of hand, or whether the planning hit some new plateau and worried insiders, seeing the insanity of it, called every reporter they knew. Frankly, I think it was a bit of both. Opinions?)
posted by mikevotes at
4:01 PM
5 Comments:
Given the level of stupidity, machismo, and grandiosity within the administration, I think Hersh's claims are true. Cheney/Rummy/Bush are all crazy enough to think nuking Iran is a good idea.
But this isn't the first administration that's full of "tough guys" who thinking bombing the shit of a country solves all their problems.
Remember that Nixon used to want to nuke countries he didn't like right about the time he moved into his seventh high ball at night too.
Now I'm sure there are some of practical/sane people within the administration/military who think any military conflict w/ Iran is a bad idea right now, considering where we are with regards to Iraq, let alone a nuclear conflict w/ them.
But as we saw with the Iraq war, the Dubai ports deal, the Harriet Miers nomination, Katrina and a host of other cases, the sane/practical people aren't running things.
By
Reality-Based Educator, at 6:11 PM
I think it's the latter. When Cheney had STRATCOM draw up plans last summer for the use of nuclear weapons against Iran, in event of another terrorist attackeven if Iran wasn't behind the terrorist attacks there was a lot of displeasure with this plan at the Pentagon.
By
Lew Scannon, at 6:11 PM
Yeah, I lean towards believing that they are in direct operational planning for an attack, but it's just so insane that I can't go all the way there.
I know.
Also, as these leaks do serve as leverage in the negotiations, I just can't seem to abandon the idea that their leaking might be a intel political operation.
These two are not wholly mutually exclusive. It could be the planning is real from the Cheney group, but at the same time, someone who doesn't want it to happen is leacking to short circuit the plan, to bring it public.
Two hands working against each other.
Mike
By
mikevotes, at 6:21 PM
This is like the good old days when art of Kremlinology was the order of the day. People aren't the suckers they once were. Now we don't so much listen to what W says, but look for what he doesn't say.
Fool me once, and all that...
By
-epm, at 9:29 PM
That's the way I've been for years with these guys. I always used China, but its the same comparison.
Mike
By
mikevotes, at 10:28 PM
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