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War With Iran: Knowledge Is The Key To Preventing War
Dick Cheney provided a preview of both the Iraq and Iran wars in 1999 during a speech at the Institute of Petroleum. He said "by 2010 we will need on the order of an additional fifty million barrels a day. So where is the oil going to come from?... the Middle East with two thirds of the world’s oil and the lowest cost, is still where the prize ultimately lies.” In 2001, soon after President Bush was inaugurated, the 2001 Energy Task Force was organized with Dick Cheney collaborating with officials from Exxon Mobil, Conoco (before its merger with Phillips), Shell Oil, and BP America. Cheney called this meeting to discuss peak oil and how the US military would become petro-forces to secure these resources in Iraq and Iran. Cheney fought tooth and nail to keep this meeting classified to prevent the American people from learning that its government had decided to pay for oil with the blood of its soldiers instead of buying it. Experts quickly understood the money required to buy the oil was a fraction of the alternative monetary cost associated with violence but the blood-for-oil option allowed the Bush administration to reward major campaign contributors and help a subsequent re-election. The fact that the blood-for-oil strategy guaranteed billions in profits to war profiteers and energy companies, business that personally benefited the Bush and Cheney families, sealed the deal. Laying the path for war with Iran, in his first term as president, George Bush instructed Alberto Gonzales to negate a secret agreement made over 20 years ago between President Reagan and the Iranian government. Specifically, as part of the settlement for the Iranian Hostage Crisis, President Reagan agreed the US would never attack Iran. Alberto Gonzales used the legal argument that the Reagan promise was signed under duress and therefore Reagan’s written promise is not binding. On a related note, the US Congress House Foreign Affairs office thanked the Teach Peace Foundation for bringing this information to their attention. By 2004, war preparations for a future attack on Iran, in partnership with Israel, became clear for anyone paying attention. In February 2005, leaked classified documents revealed that the inner cabinet of Ariel Sharon gave “initial authorization” to attack Iran. Sharon’s cabinet, meeting at his ranch in the Negev desert, agreed to wait so that the attack would be coordinated with the US. A coordinated US and Israeli attempt to start the war with Iran in July and August of 2006 failed. Under Operation Change of Direction, the US and Israel attempted to transform a kidnapping into an act of war that would draw Iran into a war with Israel. Israeli preparations to initiate war with Iran were continued and in November 2006, Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh publically revealed that Israel might be forced to launch a military strike against Iran. Israeli war signals continued to intensify and on January 2, 2007, Israeli Brigadier General Oded Tira called for war with Iran. By the beginning of 2007, sources around the world were reporting war would likely occur before President Bush left office. We also learned in January that President Bush ordered attacks on Iranians in Iraq which is seen to help clear the way for an attack on Iran. On February 8, 2007, reinforcing what is explained in the book American Hiroshima, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei informed the world that Iran will retaliate if attacked by the US by striking targets outside Iran. As the timeline for war with Iran approaches, war hawks promote the message that energy security equals national security. In reality, attacking Iran is similar to killing someone for their property. Mass murder and mass theft is in direct conflict with the values Americans cherish. In summary, the US and Israel have been preparing to attack Iran for several years. Just consider this fact: never in US history has a military force as large as what is currently amassed in the Gulf been assembled without being used. The US military, after years preparing for “Operation Iranian Freedom” is ready to attack. Admiral Fallon, head of the US Central Command and the TIRANNT (Theatre Iran Near Team) plan, has the USS Stennis and USS Eisenhower carriers in the Gulf with the USS Reagan, USS Truman, USS Roosevelt, and USS Nimitz ready to be brought into the fight. The Marines also have the USS Boxer and USS Bataan carriers in the Gulf with the USS Kearsarge, USS Richard, USS Pelellu, USS Wasp and USS Iwo Jima ready to join the fight. The aerial strike is orchestrated by CONPLAN 8022 and the nuclear weapons were authorized to be moved to the Gulf by National Security Presidential Directive 35. The firepower now focused on Iran can strike approximately 10,000 targets in a single raid and literally wipe Iran off the map. War is not the answer. Iran is aggressively pursuing diplomacy and is not a military threat to the US or Israel. War will accelerate the current cycle of violent co-annihilation when we need nonviolent solutions that deliver co-existence. The US military dominance strategy decreases national and global security because it fails to recognize that nuclear weapons do more to empower the weak than protect the strong. The path for improved national security is to recognize that a worldwide network of nations working to promote justice can provide more security to all. US citizens can save lives in Iran, Israel, and the US by calling upon members of Congress to prevent a US and Israeli attack on Iran. Make peace possible by accepting your share of responsibility for a better world! Dave Dionisi, Teach Peace Chief Information Officer – www.teachpeace.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For additional help or questions, call 530-204-7227 or send an e-mail to contact@teachpeace.com.
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In 1997, well
before President Bush walked into the White House, a US attack on Iraq and Iran
was proposed by the Project For A New American Century neo-conservatives. The
PNAC document, written by Cheney, Rumsfeld and other neo-conservatives, called
for pre-emptive attacks so that the US would remain the dominant military and
economic power in the 21st century. The cornerstone of this strategy focused on
keeping a rising China and a united Europe subordinate by putting US weapons in
space and managing access to strategic resources in Central Asia and the Middle
East. To achieve military and economic dominance, the neo-conservatives endorsed
pre-emptive war with ongoing US military occupation of unfriendly oil rich
nations.