Good and Not So Good

From Cursor:

...there are indications that "Robert Gates and Pentagon realists appear to have wrenched our Iran policy from the hands of the Cheneyites."

Tikun Olam

Anthony Cordesman, one of the most lucid and pragmatic of national security analysts, lectured this week in Israel and reported the following according to Haaretz:

A senior U.S. strategic analyst says the Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen, sent Israel an unequivocal message stating that Israel does not have a “green light” from the U.S. to attack Iranian nuclear facilities.

...

Given the sobriety and realism of Cordesman’s statements, I give great credence to this story. And all I can say is thank God. Robert Gates and Pentagon realists appear to have wrenched our Iran policy from the hands of the Cheneyites. And not a moment too soon. The fact that Mullen made the trip to Israel means that there were Israeli generals and political leaders fully prepared to attack Iran. Just because Israel was ready to enter the maelstrom doesn’t mean that the clear-eyed at the Pentagon were prepared to join them in the descent into Hell which would’ve ensued after an attack on Iran.

It appears there is an internal war in D.C.. I hope the relatively sane ones win.

CASMII on administration backing of terrorists in the hope of destabilizing Iran. Good article about failed policy and crazy fuckin' criminally insane neocons.

Elements of the Bush administration have begun to resemble semi-insane Captain Queeg in "The Caine Mutiny" with regard to Iran. Reckless and obsessive to destroy Iran’s regime, they fondle their ball bearings, and pursue any scheme that they believe will get rid of the mullahs before the inauguration of the new American president in January 2009.

In desperation, they have turned to supporting fringe-level ethnic separatists—all of whom are terrorists and enemies of the United States who are also hostile to Iran. This strategy is truly the last gasp of a failed Middle East policy. It is ill-conceived, and if continued, will foment continued violence in the region for years without affecting the Iranian regime in any significant way.

In related news:

Iran test-fired nine long- and medium-range missiles Wednesday during war games that officials said were intended to show the country can retaliate against any U.S. or Israeli attack, state television reported.

The test-firings were widely condemned in the United States, notably by the White House and the two main candidates for the presidency.

The exercise was being conducted at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which about 40 percent of the world's oil passes. Iran has threatened to shut down traffic in the strait if attacked.

I don't blame 'em. It's called the Persian Gulf for a reason, and, hey, a similar ruffing up of feathers worked for North Korea.

The problem lies in the fact that our warmongers are taking heart from the missile shoot. They will redouble their efforts to start another senseless war. Not good.