When Time is Running Out

Lots of military hardware in the blogs these days and the Zoo is no exception. Seen here an unmanned Predator drone, typically armed with 100 pound Hellfire missiles.
Why are we featuring this device today ? Because the Washington Post reports it is the weapon of choice for stepped up unilateral U.S. attacks in the tribal areas of Pakistan.
And why, class, is the tempo of our attacks on sovereign Pakistani soil increasing ? Because time is running out on the authority of President Pervez Musharraf who can be counted on to give them a wink and a nod. The new Pakistani leadership will likely be less compliant.
The description of these operations in the Post belies, somewhat, the notion that these are "precision" strikes.

"They [local informers] see traffic coming and going from the fortress homes of tribal leaders associated with foreign elements, and they pass the information along," said Shuja Nawaz, a Pakistani journalist in Washington and the author of a book on Pakistan's army. "Some quick surveillance is done, and then someone pops a couple of hundred-pound bombs at the house."

There are, of course, political, ethical, tactical and strategic reasons for decrying this sort of thing, but that isn't they reason we are troubled here at the Zoo. Its because time is running out on another operation dues to the soon disappearing power of the principal actors.

We speak, of course, of Messrs. Bush and Cheney and of their plan to destroy Iran's nuclear capability with air attacks before they leave office. In case you missed our recent blog on the subject, "Maybe We Should Just Relax ?", you can find it here where we detail the reasons, or some of them, why unease is appropriate.

If you can think of a way to prevent the Iran attack, please let us know. We will hand-letter a NZNR t-shirt for the winning proposal.

Maybe We Should Just Relax

There are many situations in which people facing some inevitable event are advised to "relax and enjoy it". These are generally events which would not, on the face of them, appear to be enjoyable.

The impending (inevitable ?) attack on Iran appears to me to be one of these events. What do we know so far ?

The President has both publicly and repeatedly asserted he will not leave office with "the possibility of Iran having a nuclear bomb," for instance here and here . Notice, please, the threat to be avoided at all costs is not a bomb, but a "possibility". Following the Administration's own logic, as long as Iran has a uranium enrichment program there is a "possibility" they can make a bomb.

We are unlikely to find Vice-President Cheney a restraining influence as he has declared the U. S. (that is you and me, by the way) "will not tolerate a nuclear Iran" . Note again, please, what you and I will not tolerate is a "nuclear Iran", not a "nuclear armed Iran". Iran is already "nuclear".

Other straws in the wind ? How about the Republican Presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) "joking" about bombing Iran with the "old Beach Boys song, bomb bomb bomb".

Now that's funny. You and I will incinerate citizens of Iran in a nuclear fireball (apparently nothing else will work ), making us the first, second and still only country ever to use nuclear weapons in combat. Laugh, I thought I'd die. Or somebody would.

Then we have the saga of Admiral William Fallon, when President Bush’s nominee to head the Central Command (CENTCOM) in February '07, expressed strong opposition to an administration plan to increase the number of carrier strike groups in the Persian Gulf from two to three and vowed privately there would be no war against Iran as long as he was chief of CENTCOM. This was read as a defeat for the Administration hawks who are pressing for the Iran attack. Defeat for the hawks. February 2007.

Fallon. Fallon. Where have I heard that name more recently ? Oh, right ! He just resigned as head of CENTCOM after Esquire magazine published an article characterizing him as an opponent to the Iran attack. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said the resignation was entirely Fallon's idea and that it is "ridiculous" to suppose that the resignation indicates that you and I are planning to go to war with Iran. Admiral Fallon also carefully noted that there are no "policy differences" or "differences in objectives" in the CENTCOM area between himself and the Administration. Note, please, that agreement as to objectives does not imply agreement as to how to meet them. The Esquire piece indicates there is no much agreement on the latter. Hawks even the score, March '08, and are still on the field.

Need more ? The Telegraph in London reported last week that the Bush Administration has begun " a carefully calibrated programme of escalation that could lead to a military showdown with Iran." We'll assume that such an alarming report was reprinted in your local paper and you are familiar with the chilling details of how you and I are planning to create the scenario for war. If not, you can read them here.

What can do to prevent this (inevitable ?) attack ? Well, we might impeach Bush and Cheney, except that Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has taken that option off the table. That's because Democrats are not about "getting even", Pelosi told the New York Times. Nor, it would seem, about protecting the Constitution or preventing a humanitarian and diplomatic catastrophe of historic scale. Oh well.

We could have protests. While certain numbers are unavailable, it has been reported that between January 3 and April 12, 2003, 36 million people across the globe took part in almost 3,000 protests against the Iraq war. That worked.

Or we can just relax. The war footage on CNN will be terrific. The blogosphere will be aflame on all sides. The chattering classes will be setting new records for . . . chattering. And the responses from the rest of the world will be very educational.

My guess is mid-October as an effort is made to get a two-fer by influencing the election in favor of McCain who will be a reliable vote for more wars.

Beverage of choice. Large screen tv. And kleenex. Lots and lots of kleenex.