And the Beat Goes On

The beat, of course, refers to the continuing drumbeat calling for war against Iran. You can see our earlier posts for details to date.

So what does smoke rising from the Green Zone in Baghdad have to do with war against Iran. You need only listen to the call and response between General David Petraeus and Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT). The General had been decrying Iranian interference with Iraqi affairs (we set aside, again, the bitter irony and amazing chutzpah of any American spokeman criticizing interference by an immediate neighbor in the affairs of a nation we came 10,000 miles to invade and "liberate" more than five years ago).

So Lieberman asked probing question:

"Is it fair to say that the Iranian-backed special groups in Iraq are responsible for the murder of hundreds of American soldiers and thousands of Iraqi soldiers and civilians?"

There is a war going on in Iraq that we started, now a morass of conflicting interests and militias. "Murder" might possibly be applied to some killings in Iraq, but is it really legitimate as between U.S. forces and local militias, however they were armed ? Will Petraeus buy into Lieberman's blatant war pandering or bring his more sophisticated and informed perspective to bear ?

"It certainly is. ... That is correct," said Petraeus.

So much for information and sophistication.

Notice, please, that Lieberman has neatly blamed Iran for the "murder" of some significant fraction of the 4000+ Americans who have died in this war. Could this be part of a design to take us to war ? Is it reminiscent of any other ?

This President Bush probably remembers that "protecting American lives" was part of his father's justification for the invasion of Panama and that time none had been lost.

And somebody's speed boats are still bothering our warships in the Persian Gulf. Its all starting to add up.