Michael Ledeen's Echoes of Iran-Contra, and the Plan for the War on Iran

One of my favorite investigative reporters, James Bamford, has a new piece in Rolling Stone detailing the build up to the near-inevitable War on Iran. There are many choice bits, but let me show you this one first:

In November 2003, Rumsfeld approved a plan known as CONPLAN 8022-02, which for the first time established a pre-emptive-strike capability against Iran. That was followed in 2004 by a top-secret "Interim Global Strike Alert Order" that put the military on a state of readiness to launch an airborne and missile attack against Iran, should Bush issue the command. "We're now at the point where we are essentially on alert," said Lt. Gen. Bruce Carlson, commander of the 8th Air Force. "We have the capacity to plan and execute global strikes in half a day or less."

The War on Iran has been planned for years. As the article makes clear, the planning began before 9/11, hell, even before Bush even became president. This is deliberate, methodical warmongering on the part of the neoconservatives.

They're building an empire.

I guess some Americans may be okay with that. I'm not. There's a little "problem" with empires: They are ruled by an emperor. In other words, they are not democratic in nature. They are not "republics" like ours. They are antithetical to the American Way and everything we stand for.

And it's not like this some big fucking secret, although many people I know are shocked -- SHOCKED! -- when I tell them we're going into Iran. I guess that's what happens when you rely on mainstream news sources for information. Everybody who's anybody knows we're going into Iran. The neocons don't even bother to hide the fact that they're going to get us into Iran one way or another:

Stout and balding, with a scruffy white beard, [Michael] Ledeen is sitting in the living room of his white-brick home in Chevy Chase, Maryland, smoking a Dominican cigar. His Airedale terrier, Thurber, roams the room protectively. In his first extensive interview about the covert Pentagon operation, Ledeen makes no secret of his desire to topple the government in Tehran. "I want to bring down the regime," he says. "I want the regime gone. It's a country that is fanatically devoted to our destruction."

Michael Ledeen, for those of you who don't know, is a complete fuckwit who also happens to be one of the preeminent neoconservative "intellectuals" (their word, not mine) who guides neoconservative policy, rather like Irving Kristol. Ledeen is a fucking idiot, but that's what makes him perfect as a neocon guru. He doesn't let facts get in the way; he's mentally agile enough to route around or rationalize anything under the sun in order to justify the dictates of the leaders of the group.

Ledeen, as the article makes clear, was one of the major players in the Iran-Contra scandal. So, he certainly has experience with Iran, law-breaking and war, which is really all you need to become a shining star in the neocon constellation (apparently).

Interestingly, the Iran-Contra affair also involved hostages (Americans this time) held by Hezbollah. The Reagan administration arranged to sell weapons to Iran in exchange for Iran pressuring Hezbollah into releasing the hostages. The money from the arms sales would go to fund the Nicaraguan counter-revolutionaries ("Contras") fighting to overthrow a democratically-elected leftist government (the Sandinistas). The Contras were also funded by other means, including massive cocaine smuggling coordinated by the U.S. government. Not just into other countries -- into ours! So yes, the U.S. government has engaged in drug smuggling, arms dealing, and funding "terrorist" groups (the Contras were not gentlemen), all in the name of overthrowing democratically-elected governments in South America. Boy, don't you just wanna start singing America the Beautiful?!

They say history repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce. I can only hope that this will be the farce time, but I think we've gotta get through the tragedy bit first. Shit. Well, here we are again, dealing with the dark side in order to accomplish some dark and hideous task in the name of freedom (ostensibly), but really in the name of more power for our ruling elite. Ain't politics great!?!?!

If you think our illustrious leaders have changed their stripes and will pull back from the brink, you're fucking dreaming. They will do no such thing unless we grab them by the neck. That's why it is so important, So, SO important that when the time comes we protest -- huge rallies, massive rallies -- until the Bush regime has no choice but to surrender.

Unfortunately, the situation in Lebanon makes that more difficult. The Israelis and the neocons are trying to drag us into World War IV gradually so we won't even know for sure that we're in it until it's too late. A good plan. But we've got to stop it. We can't make the same mistakes we've made in Iraq (such as, ya know, invading). Our troops are already stretched thin; we can't afford to have another war, another country to pacify. Things are spiraling out of control already.

We have to stop this war before it's too late.