Threatening war for diplomatic purposes

CNN has a story on this Time magazine article (suscription req'd)

The first message was routine enough: a "Prepare to Deploy Order" sent through Naval communications channels to a submarine, an Aegis-class cruiser, two minesweepers and two minehunters.

The orders didn't actually command the ships out of port; they just said be ready to move by October 1.

A deployment of minesweepers to the east coast of Iran would seem to suggest that a much discussed, but until now largely theoretical, prospect has become real: that the U.S. may be preparing for war with Iran.

This article then goes on to discuss the "difficulties" that would be involved in an attack on Iran, but comes to the conclusion that perhaps it might be worth it.

Bullcrap! First, there's no way details of this order leak. Maybe a sailor or two lets slip that their ship might be going towards Hormuz, but the total order including all six ships? Second, it comes just two days before Bush's Tuesday address at the UN.

This story is a plant that IRNA would be proud of. Shame on Time magazine for uncritically printing such an obviously deliberate leak.

(Look, I do believe that an attack on Iran is a possibility, but the US government is not going to telegraph the deployment in detail.)