John Pilger is a
renowned author, journalist and documentary film-maker. A war correspondent,
his writings appear in numerous magazines, and newspapers.
Simon Tisdall, "Ahmadinejad on
Israel: Global Danger or Political Infighting?," Guardian, December
20, 2005
Enver Masud, "Iran Has an 'Inalienable
Right' to Nuclear Energy," The Wisdom Fund, January 16, 2006
Tony Benn, "U.S., Britain's 'Total
Hypocrisy' on Nuclear Energy," Democracy Now!, March 10, 2006
[The Iranian proposal also offered to accept much tighter controls by the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in exchange for "full access to
peaceful nuclear technology".--Gareth Porter, "Iran Proposal to U.S.
Offered Peace with Israel," IPS, May 24, 2006]
James Bamford, "Iran: The Next
War," Rolling Stone, July 27, 2006
Scott Ritter, "Target Iran: The Truth About the White House's Plans for Regime Change,"
Nation Books, September 12, 2006
"Ahmadinejad Rejects UN
Sanctions," BBC News, December 24, 2006
Enver Masud, "Iran-US Nuclear
Standoff," The Wisdom Fund, January 21, 2007
[Though Bush insists that no decision has been made on attacking Iran, he
offered similar assurances of his commitment to peace in the months before
invading Iraq in 2003. Yet leaked documents from London made clear that he
had set a course for war nine months to a year before the Iraq invasion.
. . . sources with first-hand knowledge of conditions in Iraq have told me
that the U.S. position is even more precarious than generally
understood.--Robert Parry, "Iran Clock Is
Ticking," consortiumnews.com, January 31, 2007]
[Zbigniew Brzezinski's . . . description of a "plausible scenario for a
military collision with Iran." It would, he suggested, involve "Iraqi
failure to meet the benchmarks, followed by accusations of Iranian
responsibility for the failure, then by some provocation in Iraq or a
terrorist act in the US blamed on Iran, culminating in a 'defensive' US
military action against Iran that plunges a lonely America into a spreading
and deepening quagmire eventually ranging across Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and
Pakistan."--Barry Grey, "Ex-
national security adviser warns that Bush is seeking a pretext to attack
Iran ," wsws.org, February 2, 2007]
[How malleable (and how well-defined) are Tehran's intentions, and what
changes in Washington's policy might lead Tehran to abandon a weapons
program? Even if Tehran's intentions do not change, what other options would
impede or slow its nuclear program? If Iran were to acquire nuclear weapons,
how would that change its behavior and affect U.S. interests? In particular,
why would deterrence, which has kept nuclear peace with other adversaries,
not work with Iran?--Paul R. Pillar, "What to Ask Before the Next War: Don't Let the
People Who Brought Us Iraq Define the Questions," Washington Post,
February 4, 2007]
Sarah Baxter, "Iranian nuclear scientist 'assassinated by
Mossad'," Sunday Times, February 5, 2007
AUDIO: "The
U.S. and Iran and the Growing Threat of War," onpointradio.org,
February 5, 2007
[ . . . almost all the sources in the story are unnamed. It also may be
worth noting that the author is Michael R. Gordon, the same Times reporter
who, on his own, or with Judith Miller, wrote some of the key, and badly
misleading or downright inaccurate, articles about Iraqi WMDs in the run-up
to the 2003 invasion.--Greg Mitchell, "'NYT' Reporter Who
Got Iraqi WMDs Wrong Now Highlights Iran Claims," Editor &
Publisher, February 10, 2007]
Greg Mitchell, "'Wash Post' Joins 'NYT' in Trumpeting
'Anonymous' Claims on Iranian Weapons in Iraq," Editor & Publisher,
February 11, 2007
Karen DeYoung, "Pace Demurs on Accusation of Iran: General Says
He Knows Nothing Tying Leaders to Arms in Iraq," Washington Post,
February 13, 2007
Jorge Hirsch, "Congress'
Liability in a Nuclear Strike on Iran," antiwar.com, February 19, 2007
[US and British intelligence estimates said that Iran was still five to 10
years away from developing a nuclear bomb--Daniel Dombey, "Iran
nears industrial N-fuel production," Financial Times, February 19, 2007]
"US 'Iran
attack plans' revealed," BBC News, February 20, 2007
Christiane Amanpour, "Iranian
official offers glimpse from within: A desire for U.S. ally," CNN, February 21, 2007
[ . . . most of the tip-offs about supposed secret weapons sites provided by
the CIA and other US intelligence agencies have led to dead ends when
investigated by IAEA inspectors--Julian Borger, "US Iran
intelligence 'is incorrect'," Guardian, February 22, 2007]
[Such incidents have been carried out by the Kurds in the west, the Azeris
in the north-west, the Ahwazi Arabs in the south-west, and the Baluchis in
the south-east.--William Lowther and Colin Freeman, "US
funds terror groups to sow chaos in Iran," Sunday Telegraph,
February 25, 2007]
"Pentagon
Whistle-Blower on the Coming War With Iran," truthdig.com, February 27,
2007
[Edward Luttwak, consultant to the US National Security Council, the White
House chief of staff and the Pentagon, recently wrote, "Viewed from the
inside, Iran is hardly the formidable power that some see from the outside.
The natural outcome of ... widening ethnic divisions ... is the breakup of
Iran.
"There is no reason why Iran should be the only multinational state to
resist the nationalist separatism that destroyed the Soviet Union and
Yugoslavia, divided Belgium in all but name, and has decentralized Spain and
even the United Kingdom. As with the Soviet Union, there is a better
alternative to detente with a repulsive regime - and that is to be true to
the Wilsonian tradition of American foreign policy by encouraging and
helping the forces of national liberation within Iran," wrote Luttwak.--M K
Bhadrakumar, "US ally
Musharraf in a tangle over Iran," Asia Times, March 7, 2007
"Only 10% in U.S. See Iran as Immediate Threat,"
angus-reid.com, March 19, 2007
[Iran, in a confidential letter posted Friday on an internal Web site of the
U.N. nuclear monitor, said its fear of attack from the U.S. and Israel
prompted its decision to withhold information from the agency. In the
letter, Iran said the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency had
repeatedly allowed confidential information crucial to the country's
security to be leaked.--George Jahn, "Iran: Attack fears
spurred nuclear block," Associated Press, March 30, 2007]
[A Pakistani tribal militant group responsible for a series of deadly
guerrilla raids inside Iran has been secretly encouraged and advised by
American officials since 2005, . . . The group, called Jundullah, is made up
of members of the Baluchi tribe and operates out of the Baluchistan province
in Pakistan--Brian Ross and Christopher Isham, "The
Secret War Against Iran," ABC News, April 3, 2007]
[An Iranian opposition group based in Iraq, labeled a terrorist organization
by the United States, gets protection from the U.S. military despite Iraqi
pressure to leave the country.
The U.S. considers the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, or MEK, a source of valuable
intelligence on Iran.--Michael Ware, "U.S. protects Iranian opposition group in
Iraq," CNN News, April 5, 2007]
[Because the Speaker had spent most of her political career on bended knee
before Israel and its Lobby, there was no way she could have not been aware
of how touchy things get when it comes to Israel. A case in point was the
number of times that Syria and Iran-both members of the Axis of Evil-have
offered to join in a "nuclear weapons free Middle East," which both
countries have publicly done.--James G. Abourezk, "How Syria Helped
US in "War on Terror"," counterpunch.org, April 10, 2007]
[Forty-five cruise missiles are primed to strike. According to Russia's
leading strategic thinker General Leonid Ivashov: "Nuclear facilities will
be secondary targets... at least 20 such facilities need to be destroyed.
Combat nuclear weapons may be used. This will result in the radioactive
contamination of all the Iranian territory, and beyond."--John Pilger, "Iran May be the
Greatest Crisis of Modern Times," New Statesman, April 12, 2007]
[ . . . it is well known in the Afghan bazaar that the country is awash with
Iranian weapons that were supplied to Northern Alliance groups during the
anti-Taliban resistance in the late 1990s.--M K Bhadrakumar, "Iran, US
take their fight to Afghanistan," Asia Times, April 21, 2007]
Michael Roston, "Report: Saudis, US
sponsoring covert action against Iran," rawstory.com, May 7, 2007
"Cheney Lines up
Middle East Arab Allies for US Iraq Pull-out and Possible Iran
Attack," DEBKAfile, May 12, 2007
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito, "Bush
Authorizes New Covert Action Against Iran," abcnews.com, May 22, 2007
Sheila MacVicar and Ashley Velie with Amy Guttman, "U.S. Working To Sabotage Iran Nuke Program," CBS News, May
23, 2007
Anne Penketh and Eric Silver, "Iran
'accused of attacks in Iraq to bolster US strategy'," Independent, May 25, 2007
[Contrary to what you've been told by the same folks - minus Judith Miller -
who sold you on Bush's war of aggression against Iraq, ElBaradei reports
that Iran continues to be in complete compliance with its NPT Safeguards
Agreement.--Gordon Prather, "Effecting Regime
Change in Iran," antiwar.com, May 26, 2007]
Megumi Yamanaka, "Iran Asks Japan to Pay Yen for Oil, Start
Immediately," bloomberg.com, July 13, 2007
["The [Sixth] Conference notes the reaffirmation by the nuclear-weapon
states of their commitment to the United Nations Security Council resolution
984 (1995) on security assurances for non-nuclear-weapon states parties to
the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons."
What assurances are those?
Well, basically Russia and China, as well as France and the United Kingdom,
will "provide immediate assistance" to Iran if it "is a victim of an act, or
an object of a threat of, aggression in which nuclear weapons are
used."--Gordon Prather, "More NeoCrazy
Media Sycophancy," antiwar.com, July 14, 2007]
Paul Craig Roberts, "Watch For Another
9/11-WMD Experience," vdare.com, July 18, 2006
[In an explosive new article, the New Yorker Magazine reports that
Negroponte's decision to resign as National Intelligence Director was made
in part because of the Bush administration's covert actions in the Middle
East, which so closely echo Iran-Contra. According to investigative reporter
Seymour Hersh, the Bush administration, with Saudi Arabia, is secretly
funding radical Sunni groups - some with ties to al-Qaeda - to counter
Shiite groups backed by Iran. Moreover, this is being done without any
Congressional authority or oversight.
Hersh also reports the Pentagon has established a special planning group
within the office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to plan a bombing attack on
Iran. The new panel has been charged with developing a plan that could be
implemented within 24 hours of getting the go-ahead from President Bush.
Hersh also reveals that U.S. military and special-operations teams have
already crossed the border into Iran in pursuit of Iranian operatives."--"Investigative Reporter Seymour Hersh: US Indirectly Funding Al-Qaeda
Linked Sunni Groups in Move to Counter Iran," Democracy Now!, July
28, 2007]
Jonathan Cook, "Sacrificed to
Zionism: Just as Jews in Egypt and Iraq in the 20th century were manipulated
by Israel, so now Iran's Jewish community is in peril,"
Al-Ahram Weekly, August 2, 2007
Gareth Porter, "The Iran Attack That Wasn't: How reporters trumped up a story about
Iranians killing Americans in Iraq," American Prospect, August 2,
2007
[First it was Barack Obama's talk of dialogue with dictators and invading
Pakistan to kill Islamist militants, then it was Hillary Rodham Clinton
refusing to rule out the use of nuclear weapons to that end. Now, the
Democratic front-runners have been joined by radical Republican Rep. Tom
Tancredo, who threatened to bomb Muslim holy sites to stop terror
attacks.--Matthew Lee, "Sloganeering
Troubles Diplomatic Pros," Associated Press, August 3, 2007]
[. . . in 1995 Clinton got the Security Council to pass UNSC Resolution 984
which, inter alia, formally expressed the "intention" of the nuke states to
"provide or support immediate assistance" to any non-nuke NPT signatory that
is "a victim" of an act - or a threat of an act - of aggression "in which
nuclear weapons are used."
Clinton was, thereby, able to get NPT signatories to agree in 1995 on the
indefinite extension of the NPT.
Upon becoming president, under our Constitution, George Bush was bound by
those commitments - ratified by the Senate - to "facilitate" the widest
possible transfer of nuclear materials, equipment and technology to no-nuke
NPT signatories and to come to their "immediate assistance" in the event
someone threatened them with nukes.--Gordon Prather, "The Illegal and
Immoral Option," antiwar.com, August 4, 2007]
Robin Wright, "Iranian Unit to Be Labeled 'Terrorist': U.S.
Moving Against Revolutionary Guard," Washington Post, August 15, 2007
[ . . . even if Iran did possess nuclear weapons, the idea that it would use
them to initiate a conflict in which Tehran would certainly be destroyed is
based on tabloid-style alarmism about the nature of the regime in
Tehran--Tony Karon, "Asking
the Wrong Questions on Iran," tonykaron.com, August 20, 2007
"Israel is aiding
Iranian opposition groups, says Strategic Threats Minister Lieberman,"
debka.com, August 28, 2007
[ . . . the reality is the IAEA has once again verified to all IAEA members and
NPT-signatories "the non-diversion of the declared nuclear materials" by
Iran. Furthermore, Iran and the IAEA Secretariat have just announced an
important agreed "time table" for "resolution" by year's end of "all
outstanding questions" relevant to the implementation of Iran's Safeguards
Agreement.--Gordon Prather,
"IAEA-Iran
Resolving Outstanding Questions," antiwar.com, September 1, 2007]
[THE Pentagon has drawn up plans for massive airstrikes against 1,200
targets in Iran--Sarah Baxter, "Pentagon
'three-day blitz' plan for Iran," Sunday Times, September 2, 2007]
Jean Bricmont, "Why Bush Can Get
Away with Attacking Iran," counterpunch.org, September 4, 2007
Robert Burns, "Abizaid:
World could abide nuclear Iran," Associated Press, September 17, 2007
[Joe Lieberman wrote the resolution authorizing the invasion of Iraq that
was passed with Democratic support on October 11, 2002. Lieberman's new
resolution setting up a Bush-Cheney invasion of Iran passed by 76 to 22 with
Democratic backing on September 26, 2007. These are two dates that will
live in infamy in the 21st century.--Mike Gravel, "Democrats
Were Charged To End A War, Not Start One," ICH, September 28, 2007]
[We have this wonderful capacity in America to Hitlerize people. We had
Hitler, and since Hitler we've had about 20 of them. Khrushchev and Mao and
of course Stalin, and for a little while Gadhafi was our Hitler. And now we
have this guy Ahmadinejad.--INTERVIEW WITH INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST SEYMOUR
HERSH: "'The
President Has Accepted Ethnic Cleansing'," Spiegel Online,
September 28, 2007]
[In the last two centuries has Iran - or Persia as it used to be called -
invaded any other nation?--Ed
Kinane, "'U.S., not Iran, is the terrorist',"
Providenc Journal, September 29, 2007]
[Freedom's Watch will sponsor a private forum of 20 experts on radical Islam
that is expected to make the case that Iran poses a direct threat to the
security of the United States--Don Van Natta, Jr., "Big
Coffers and a Rising Voice Lift a New Conservative Group," New York
Times, September 30, 2007]
The passage of a more punitive Iran Sanctions Act in July, coupled with last
week's approval by a 77 to 22 Senate vote of the Kyl-Lieberman amendment to
the Defense Procurement bill, have provided a virtual carte blanche for the
White House to attack Iran at will.--Philip Giraldi, "The Myth of
the All-Powerful Ahmadinejad," nationalinterest.org, October 3, 2007]
John H. Richardson, "The Secret
History of the Impending War with Iran That the White House Doesn't Want You
to Know," Esquire, October 18, 2007
Gordon Prather, "WWIII: Bring It On,"
antiwar.com, October 20, 2007
[How can it be that Air Force ground crew people at Barksdale could spot the
nukes in a flash while nobody at Minot . . . Perfect for a tactical strike
on an Iranian nuclear processing or research site, or for a "false flag"
type attack that could be blamed on a fledgling nuclear power. Like
Iran.--Dave Lindorff, "Nukes Over America -
All A Stupid Mistake...Sure it Was," thiscantbehappening.net,
October 21, 2007]
[. . . if Obama-Biden-Hillary really want to "shore up" the NPT and its
associated nuclear-weapons proliferation-prevention regime, the first step
is to begin to accept at face value . . . the reports made by the IAEA
Secretariat.--Gordon Prather, "Shoring Up the NPT
Regime," antiwar.com, January 17, 2009]
[On 10 January Iran announced that it had arrested 10 of its own citizens
for the killing of Professor Massoud Ali Mohammadi. Iran's Intelligence
Ministry said that the 10 suspects worked for Israel's intelligence service
Mossad.--James Reynolds, "Behind the
'Mossad plot' against Iranian scientist," BBC News, January 14, 2011]