LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Three former senior U.S. military officials warn that any military action against Iran would have "disastrous consequences" and urged Washington to hold immediate and unconditional talks with Tehran.
In a letter to London's Sunday Times newspaper, the three former U.S. military leaders said attacking Iran "would have disastrous consequences for security in the region, coalition forces in Iraq and would further exacerbate regional and global tensions," they wrote.
"The current crisis must be resolved through diplomacy," they said.
The letter was signed by retired Army Lt. Gen. Robert Gard, a former military assistant to Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, retired U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Hoar, a former commander in chief of U.S. Central Command; and retired Navy Vice Adm. Jack Shanahan, a former director of the Center for Defense Information.
They urged the U.S. government to "engage immediately in direct talks with the government of Iran without preconditions.
"There is time available to talk, we must ensure that we use it," they said.
CNN.com/February 3, 2007
[Note: After my own Letters, I have quoted at length from an essay by Paul Craig Roberts about the catastrophic impasse the world now faces.]
How many Senate resolutions on Iraq are enough?
Resolutions are meaningless.
This president will
WAR
WAR
WAR
Until he is stopped by Impeachment.
But after he is impeached Dick Cheney will be president and he
Will continue to
WAR
WAR
WAR.
At no other time in this nation’s history has diplomacy become such a necessary and emergency measure to stop its own leaders and those of other nations from igniting World War.
Forget the resolutions.
The Senate and House must resolve to impeach George W. Bush and Dick Cheney now before our nation is taken farther down the road to HELL.
Their good intentions are killing us.
In the meantime, and before any actions to Impeach, Congress must stop funding the Decision Maker’s deluded and dangerous vision that is now embodied in his latest decision to escalate the Iraq War.
What are President Bush's intentions when it comes to Iran and Syria?
President Bush’s intentions are to go to war with Iran and Syria.
Especially Iran.
Iran is meddling in Iraq, and has been for some time. But the Decision Maker has ignored diplomacy.
He dismissed the suggestions for diplomacy that were given by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group.
President Bush, as usual, has given ominous hints that are impossible to ignore.
This president is on his own manic and imperial mission to destroy the terrorists that he has mostly created.
10,000,000 people begged the Decision Maker not to bomb Iraq.
70% of Americans now want the Decision Maker to stop his madness in Iraq.
The Decision Maker will not abandon his Let's Roll and Smoke Them Out philosophy.
He and Iran's nutty leader are both dangerous.
Again, diplomacy is the most important factor to stop impending conflagrations and World War.
P.S.
Dear Madam Speaker:
I noticed how nice George W. Bush was to you before he delivered his State of the Union.
But I guess that was the gentleman inside of the Decision Maker Torturer Long War President.
As the Speaker, I believe you need to respond to and listen to the VOICES OF AMERICA.
The volume of these voices is increasing day by day, and they are asking for the IMPEACHMENT of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.
It will not be too late if IMPEACHMENT is done BEFORE the president and the vice-president leave office.
It will be too late if George W. Bush and Dick Cheney bomb Iran, or if they assist Israel when it begins its bombing.
The lies that George W. Bush and Dick Cheny concocted and foisted upon the American public in order to pre-emptively attack Iraq should be prosecuted, not merely critiqued, criticized and admonished.
It will be too late after Iran is attacked.
It will be too late when a World War begins.
Are you afraid to do this?
Why don't you support this action?
To show the world that the people of this country did something when their leaders made false claims to go to war will increase our worth and our character, not weaken them.
Non-binding resolutions are meaningless.
Just criticizing this administration is not enough.
For the sake of our country and the good of our Constitution, as well as for the Honor of our Nation and the safety of this planet:
IMPEACH
George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.
IT'S THE OIL STUPID!
***
The real game plan is to orchestrate a war with Iran and to initiate wider conflict in the Middle East before public and military pressure forces the Bush Regime to withdraw US troops from Iraq.
Two US carrier attack groups have been deployed to the Persian Gulf. US missile systems are being sent to oil producing countries to counter any incoming missiles from Iran should any survive the US attack. Israeli pilots have been training for an attack on Iran. US war doctrine has been changed to permit pre-emptive nuclear attack on non-nuclear countries. US attack aircraft have been deployed at bases in Turkey. A neocon admiral who attends AIPAC events has been made commander in chief of US forces in the Middle East. Obviously, the ground war in Iraq and Afghanistan are not the focus of the Bush Regime's new military deployments. The Bush Regime is focused on attacking Iran.
In CounterPunch (January 16) Col. Sam Gardiner reports that the Bush Regime has put into operation a group led by National Security Council staff whose mission is to create and foment outrage against Iran. Col. Gardiner details various signs of the Bush Regime's escalation and indicates some of the final deployments that will signal an imminent strike on Iran, such as "USAF tankers moved to unusual places, like Bulgaria" in order to position them for refueling B-2 bombers on their way to Iran.
Both Michel Chossudovsky (ICH Jan. 17) and Jorge Hirsch (CounterPunch Jan. 20) have recently documented evidence that the Bush Regime is orchestrating a crisis with Iran that can lead to the use of nuclear weapons to attack Iran.
Civil libertarians who have observed the Bush Regime's concentration of dictatorial powers in the presidency expect that war with Iran, especially if fearful nuclear weapons are used, will be accompanied by Bush's declaration of a state of emergency. The Bush Regime will use the state of emergency to grab more arbitrary and dictatorial powers in the name of protecting "national security interests" and American citizens from "terrorism."
As the Regime's crimes against the US Constitution and humanity will be monstrous, dissent will be throttled in ways that will make Americans afraid to speak, or even to think, the truth. By stifling dissent, the Bush Regime will escape accountability for launching wars on the basis of blatant lies. It will complete its destruction of the civil liberties that protect free speech, dissent, and Americans from arbitrary arrest and indefinite detention without charges or access to attorneys.
Congress is wasting precious time with non-binding resolutions and debates over cutting off war funding. The Bush Regime is rushing the country into a war and a domestic police state. Writing in Slate, Dahlia Lithwick reports that one of the main goals of the so-called "war on terror" (essentially a propagandistic hoax) is to achieve a massive expansion in unaccountable executive power. This is a long-time goal of VP Cheney and his chief of staff, David Addington. It is also the main goal of the "conservative" Federalist Society, an organization of Republican lawyers from whose membership Republican judicial nominees are drawn.
American public opinion is being manipulated. In the name of protecting "American freedom and democracy," the Bush regime rides roughshod over both as it ignores both the public and Congress and proceeds with a catastrophic policy supported by no one but the Bush Regime and a cabal of power-mad neoconservatives.
Nothing can stop the Regime except the immediate impeachment of Bush and Cheney. This is America's last chance.
From The Manipulation of the American Mind
Only Impeachment Can Prevent More War
By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
January 22. 2007
Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page and Contributing Editor of National Review. He is coauthor of The Tyranny of Good Intentions. He can be reached at: PaulCraigRoberts@yahoo.com
How many Senate resolutions on Iraq are enough?
Resolutions are meaningless.
This president will
WAR
WAR
WAR
Until he is stopped by Impeachment.
But after he is impeached Dick Cheney will be president and he
Will continue to
WAR
WAR
WAR.
At no other time in this nation’s history has diplomacy become such a necessary and emergency measure to stop its own leaders and those of other nations from igniting World War.
Forget the resolutions.
The Senate and House must resolve to impeach George W. Bush and Dick Cheney now before our nation is taken farther down the road to HELL.
Their good intentions are killing us.
In the meantime, and before any actions to Impeach, Congress must stop funding the Decision Maker’s deluded and dangerous vision that is now embodied in his latest decision to escalate the Iraq War.
What are President Bush's intentions when it comes to Iran and Syria?
President Bush’s intentions are to go to war with Iran and Syria.
Especially Iran.
Iran is meddling in Iraq, and has been for some time. But the Decision Maker has ignored diplomacy.
He dismissed the suggestions for diplomacy that were given by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group.
President Bush, as usual, has given ominous hints that are impossible to ignore.
This president is on his own manic and imperial mission to destroy the terrorists that he has mostly created.
10,000,000 people begged the Decision Maker not to bomb Iraq.
70% of Americans now want the Decision Maker to stop his madness in Iraq.
The Decision Maker will not abandon his Let's Roll and Smoke Them Out philosophy.
He and Iran's nutty leader are both dangerous.
Again, diplomacy is the most important factor to stop impending conflagrations and World War.
P.S.
Dear Madam Speaker:
I noticed how nice George W. Bush was to you before he delivered his State of the Union.
But I guess that was the gentleman inside of the Decision Maker Torturer Long War President.
As the Speaker, I believe you need to respond to and listen to the VOICES OF AMERICA.
The volume of these voices is increasing day by day, and they are asking for the IMPEACHMENT of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.
It will not be too late if IMPEACHMENT is done BEFORE the president and the vice-president leave office.
It will be too late if George W. Bush and Dick Cheney bomb Iran, or if they assist Israel when it begins its bombing.
The lies that George W. Bush and Dick Cheny concocted and foisted upon the American public in order to pre-emptively attack Iraq should be prosecuted, not merely critiqued, criticized and admonished.
It will be too late after Iran is attacked.
It will be too late when a World War begins.
Are you afraid to do this?
Why don't you support this action?
To show the world that the people of this country did something when their leaders made false claims to go to war will increase our worth and our character, not weaken them.
Non-binding resolutions are meaningless.
Just criticizing this administration is not enough.
For the sake of our country and the good of our Constitution, as well as for the Honor of our Nation and the safety of this planet:
IMPEACH
George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.
IT'S THE OIL STUPID!
***
The real game plan is to orchestrate a war with Iran and to initiate wider conflict in the Middle East before public and military pressure forces the Bush Regime to withdraw US troops from Iraq.
Two US carrier attack groups have been deployed to the Persian Gulf. US missile systems are being sent to oil producing countries to counter any incoming missiles from Iran should any survive the US attack. Israeli pilots have been training for an attack on Iran. US war doctrine has been changed to permit pre-emptive nuclear attack on non-nuclear countries. US attack aircraft have been deployed at bases in Turkey. A neocon admiral who attends AIPAC events has been made commander in chief of US forces in the Middle East. Obviously, the ground war in Iraq and Afghanistan are not the focus of the Bush Regime's new military deployments. The Bush Regime is focused on attacking Iran.
In CounterPunch (January 16) Col. Sam Gardiner reports that the Bush Regime has put into operation a group led by National Security Council staff whose mission is to create and foment outrage against Iran. Col. Gardiner details various signs of the Bush Regime's escalation and indicates some of the final deployments that will signal an imminent strike on Iran, such as "USAF tankers moved to unusual places, like Bulgaria" in order to position them for refueling B-2 bombers on their way to Iran.
Both Michel Chossudovsky (ICH Jan. 17) and Jorge Hirsch (CounterPunch Jan. 20) have recently documented evidence that the Bush Regime is orchestrating a crisis with Iran that can lead to the use of nuclear weapons to attack Iran.
Civil libertarians who have observed the Bush Regime's concentration of dictatorial powers in the presidency expect that war with Iran, especially if fearful nuclear weapons are used, will be accompanied by Bush's declaration of a state of emergency. The Bush Regime will use the state of emergency to grab more arbitrary and dictatorial powers in the name of protecting "national security interests" and American citizens from "terrorism."
As the Regime's crimes against the US Constitution and humanity will be monstrous, dissent will be throttled in ways that will make Americans afraid to speak, or even to think, the truth. By stifling dissent, the Bush Regime will escape accountability for launching wars on the basis of blatant lies. It will complete its destruction of the civil liberties that protect free speech, dissent, and Americans from arbitrary arrest and indefinite detention without charges or access to attorneys.
Congress is wasting precious time with non-binding resolutions and debates over cutting off war funding. The Bush Regime is rushing the country into a war and a domestic police state. Writing in Slate, Dahlia Lithwick reports that one of the main goals of the so-called "war on terror" (essentially a propagandistic hoax) is to achieve a massive expansion in unaccountable executive power. This is a long-time goal of VP Cheney and his chief of staff, David Addington. It is also the main goal of the "conservative" Federalist Society, an organization of Republican lawyers from whose membership Republican judicial nominees are drawn.
American public opinion is being manipulated. In the name of protecting "American freedom and democracy," the Bush regime rides roughshod over both as it ignores both the public and Congress and proceeds with a catastrophic policy supported by no one but the Bush Regime and a cabal of power-mad neoconservatives.
Nothing can stop the Regime except the immediate impeachment of Bush and Cheney. This is America's last chance.
From The Manipulation of the American Mind
Only Impeachment Can Prevent More War
By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
January 22. 2007
Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page and Contributing Editor of National Review. He is coauthor of The Tyranny of Good Intentions. He can be reached at: PaulCraigRoberts@yahoo.com
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