No, We’re Planning For Peace, You Dolts
I hate to keep kicking the crap out of the Washington Post, because I work for a cheesy tabloid in Beantown, and technically, they are supposed to be smarter than me. But this article ledes off saying that SecDef Robert Gates says the U.S. military is not planning for war with Iran:
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates denied today that the United States is planning for war with Iran, saying that U.S. military efforts are focused on countering alleged Iranian activities against American troops in Iraq.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but war-planning is the military’s job. On a constant basis, to plan for the prospect of war with our enemies, in any way in which that might occur. Of course they are planning for war with Iran.
OK, maybe I’m being pedantic. The war gaming and planning goes forward, and I understand what they mean. Are we really planning for war with Iran, with the aggressive moves we’re making?
Well, you have to ask yourself. Does it make any sense for Robert Gates to say yes? The Iranians have already been given all the information they need for the moment. Surge in Iraq and an additional carrier in the Gulf. Gates is supposed to get the Euroweenies and the peaceniks’ shorts in more of a twist? Give the Iranians something to squawk about, and not keep them guessing?
… Asked about public suspicions that the Bush administration is gearing up to attack Iran, Gates said, “The president has made clear, the secretary of state has made clear, I’ve made clear — nobody is planning — we are not planning for a war with Iran. What we are trying to do is, in Iraq, counter what the Iranians are doing to our soldiers, their involvement in activities, particularly these explosively-formed projectiles that are killing our troops.”
The administration has chosen to hold off on its big show-and-tell about Iranian interference in iraq and complicity in sectarian violence and attacks on Americans. This is a good idea. The mood in Congress and the country is not right, but the Iranians are doing a pretty good job themselves, with incidents such as the arrest of agents in Gaza, on top of recent arrests in Iraq and reports of Iranian support for Iraqi murderers. This is a time to allow some situational development and allow Iran to hoist itself on its own petard prior to commencing operations.
Gateway has this on an enterprising Oregonian now in government custody, accused of trying to sell batteries for SAMs to Iran.
About Iran and SAMs, prior post: All Roads Lead to Teheran
Another prior post: Road from Teheran, Two-Way Street.
Topics: Iran, Iraq, media, military
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 12:11 am on Saturday, February 3, 2007
8 Responses to “No, We’re Planning For Peace, You Dolts”
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February 3rd, 2007 at 12:25 am
So, if we’ve got the shape charge bombs the Iranians are sending to Iraq traced back to the Iranian factory, does anyone have a good explanation as to why we haven’t bombed the snot out of said factory? just saying….
February 3rd, 2007 at 1:30 am
I strongly suspect that Iran is very, very overdrawn in its finances which is why we’re not planning a war. What we’re more likely planning is a coup with Rafsanjani being the most likely candidate. Iran is profoundly corrupt with the most honest faction being the most apocalyptic and scary for the US. Ahmadinejad is being provoked into continuing to overspend and even increase his overspending while his more venal but less crazy rivals take the opportunity to move in for the kill.
Iran’s system is going to collapse. If we can move it so that the controlling factions are lazy, venal, and corrupt, we might have a manageable collapse without too many things going boom. We all have our roles to play in this little, deadly game. If we end up in war, we haven’t done them right.
TM Lutas
February 3rd, 2007 at 2:05 am
Pray for Peace, but Plan for War.
February 3rd, 2007 at 9:33 am
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February 3rd, 2007 at 11:56 am
So, when are you going to start calling for a war against Saudi Arabia?
The US is not taking casualties from the Shi’a, but from Sunni insurgents and al Qaeda fighters. They, in turn, are funded by Saudi and Syrian and Jordanian contributions. But mostly Saudi.
If the real goal is to eliminate foreign intervention that’s detrimental to our troops, Saudi, not Tehran, is the place to go. But of course, that’s not the goal at all. It’s to try and create a Sunni bloc to oppose Iran. Which is to say, to run the risk of a larger war that we’re ill-prepared to fight.
February 3rd, 2007 at 1:51 pm
Dammitman - The Saudi’s aren’t the focus for war plans because the Saudis have already bought into the idea of gradually expanding the power of electoral politics and shifting to a constitutional monarchy over time. That’s enough of a shift to make them a receding threat. Read some Tom Barnett if you want details.
If we’re fighting in Riyadh *or* Tehran, we’ve already missed the brass ring.
February 3rd, 2007 at 1:54 pm
Another Grim Milestone for the New York Times
Long before even 9/11, the Times was banging the “Bushies” gong…
February 3rd, 2007 at 4:05 pm
TMLutas is correct.
We didn’t win the cold war by bombing Moscow. We won it by a combination of some level of containment, and causing the Soviets to spend themselves into the toilet.
The Iranian economy isn’t doing so well with oil at $60 a barrel and last I checked the price of oil was dropping. Putin announced in his latest speach that the Russian economy was no longer dependent on “High Oil Prices”. The Saudi’s are making only token gestures at maintaining the price of oil.
Without aggresive Saudi intervention in the oil markets, the only way to keep oil above $60/barrel is to mine portions of the Persian Gulf. Hence, two carrier battlegroups and a patriot missle battery at an “undisclosed” location in the Gulf.
Putting 15,000 UN Peacekeepers in Southern Lebanon keeps Hezbollah from engaging in any “large scale” violence. Hamas and Fatah are busy fighting each other. The wild card becomes Moqtada and his goons, send an extra 20,000 US troops to sit on his doorstep.
Containment complete. The Iranian economy will do the rest.