Americans Get A Chance To Vote On War Or Peace In November

Few people would argue against the proposition that the concerted U.S. and Saudi aid to the muhajadeen, meant to destabilize the Soviet Union, has had some extremely grave, unforeseen consequences. The rise of the Taliban may even have been foreseen. 9/11 wasn't. Bush was able to use that, though, as an excuse-- as far fetched as it was-- to attack and occupy Iraq and to tighten the grip of the Military-Industrial complex around the throat of American democracy itself. But what have we-- American citizens and our congressional representatives-- learned from this whole misadventure? Apparently not very much.

A couple weeks ago the New Yorker published an essay by Seymour Hersh about what the Bush Regime-- with congressional approval-- has been up to in Iran. It's like the Afghan tragedy never happened. "Last year," Hersh begins, "Congress agreed to a request from President Bush to fund a major escalation of covert operations against Iran, according to current and former military, intelligence, and congressional sources. These operations, for which the President sought up to four hundred million dollars, were described in a Presidential Finding signed by Bush, and are designed to destabilize the country’s religious leadership. The covert activities involve support of the minority Ahwazi Arab and Baluchi groups and other dissident organizations." That means they are trying to stir up religious and ethnic hatreds-- the Ahwazi Arabs and Baluchis are Sunnis in overwhelmingly Sh'ia (and paranoid) Iran.

Clandestine operations against Iran are not new. United States Special Operations Forces have been conducting cross-border operations from southern Iraq, with Presidential authorization, since last year. These have included seizing members of Al Quds, the commando arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and taking them to Iraq for interrogation, and the pursuit of “high-value targets” in the President’s war on terror, who may be captured or killed. But the scale and the scope of the operations in Iran, which involve the Central Intelligence Agency and the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), have now been significantly expanded, according to the current and former officials. Many of these activities are not specified in the new Finding, and some congressional leaders have had serious questions about their nature.

But they still went along with them-- and not just the reflexive rubber stamps like Boehner, Pat Roberts and McConnell but also Pelosi and Reid. And I have no doubt that Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Silvestre Reyes (R-TX) were overjoyed to sign on to a plot backing violent regime change. As Hersh emphasizes, "In other words, some members of the Democratic leadership-- Congress has been under Democratic control since the 2006 elections-- were willing, in secret, to go along with the Administration in expanding covert activities directed at Iran, while the Party’s presumptive candidate for President, Barack Obama, has said that he favors direct talks and diplomacy."

It appears that some congressional Democratic leaders preferred McCain's "Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran" approach than Obama's call-- which even Bush apparently has heard-- for diplomacy. "The Democratic leadership’s agreement to commit hundreds of millions of dollars for more secret operations in Iran was remarkable, given the general concerns of officials like Gates, Fallon, and many others. 'The oversight process has not kept pace-- it’s been coöpted' by the Administration, the person familiar with the contents of the Finding said. 'The process is broken, and this is dangerous stuff we’re authorizing.'"

Remember this was being done right when McCain was shrilly and hysterically denouncing the National Intelligence Estimate from December which found that Iran hasn't been working on nuclear weapons since 2003. And even today Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen said he's got his hands full just fighting 2 Bush wars without having to worry about a third one. And Mullen (and ex-CentCom head William Fallon) aren't the only ones in the Pentagon trying to head Bush off at the pass. Even his own Secretary of Defense has been warning Democrats to stop Bush's, Cheney's and McCain's insane and relentless drive to force us into a war with Iran.

Gates warned of the consequences if the Bush Administration staged a preëmptive strike on Iran, saying, as the senator recalled, “We’ll create generations of jihadists, and our grandchildren will be battling our enemies here in America.” Gates’s comments stunned the Democrats at the lunch, and another senator asked whether Gates was speaking for Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney. Gates’s answer, the senator told me, was “Let’s just say that I’m here speaking for myself.”

Each passing day brings more and better clarity to the differences between McCain's utter Bush-like unsuitability for public office and Obama's excellent and steady, reasoned judgment. But as Howard Fineman pointed out on Chris Matthews' show yesterday, there are reasons-- very powerful ones, why members of the Bush Regime will do all in their power to make sure McCain winds up in the White House.

FINEMAN: If you’re in this White House, you want another Republican administration to follow. You don’t want a Democratic administration coming in there while the evidence is still fresh, so to speak. To look at it the way…

MATTHEWS: With the subpoena power…

FINEMAN: With the subpoena power and looking through all the records and looking at all the decisions that were made. You want to cover over your two terms with a third term the way Ronald Reagan did with George HW Bush.

Meanwhile, the U.S. base of operations against Iran, is making it clearer by the day that-- despite McBush denials-- they want U.S. forces out of their country no later than 2010, something they see eye to eye on with the American public... and the next president.

REPORT FROM INDIA

The smells, the sounds, the sights, the vibes, the food... it couldn't be stranger if I was on another planet. Even the computers are different. Fortunately I've spent lots of time in India in the past so I can't say I need to spend any time hiding under my blanket in shock. And I love it.

I bet you're wondering what's all the rage in Delhi this season, right? Well, it looks like what's really in for the gents, at least in some circles, is dying your hair fiery orange; very attractive. For the ladies, the big fashion statement seems to be girth. Unlike the fiery orange dye jobs, though, which seems to belong to the working class and lower middle class fashionistas, the girth thing is strictly for the prosperous-- and I have to say that is a very growing segment of the population.

I'm clueless as to the official inflation rate of India but if the official stats are as dishonest as the official inflation stats coming out of the Bush Regime or out of China-- where inflation is rampant and bodes badly for the rest of us-- it wouldn't be worth finding out anyway. So instead I can just sniff around for inflationary clues above and beyond a plethora of big boned gals and lurid dye jobs.

I remember last time I was in Delhi I stayed at the Imperial Hotel and it cost my company $175 a night. This time they asked for $975. That seems plenty inflationary, don't you think? A friend's family owns it and he was able to get me the Indian price-- everything is more for foreigners-- and it is $385, still way too expensive. (I found a special internet deal for AAA members in the only five-star hotel in New Delhi to go below $300/night.) The city used to be really cheap; now it's really expensive. And it isn't because of the exchange rate. When I first got to India in 1969 a dollar fetched 13 rupees, although you could buy 28 rupees for a dollar in Switzerland and 40 rupees for a dollar in Kabul. The official exchange rate is now 38.50 rupees for a dollar, a nice deal. But inflation is so high that it barely matters.

The hotel charges 150 rupees to use a computer/internet in their business center... for 15 minutes. The cyber cafes in the back alleys, where young Indians sit and fill out job applications, costs 20 rupees per hour. I found a clear one today and feel comfortable trying to post. Yesterday's sported keyboards so filth-encrusted that I had trouble holding down my lunch.

So what do Indians think about us? This morning at breakfast I read The Asian Age and there was a front page story that caught my attention: "Many in U.S. Believe in God and UFOs." It was a story date-lined Washington and I'll let the Harris Online stats speak for themselves. 82% of adult Americans believe in God and 79% believe in miracles. Just over 70% believe in heaven and angels and over 60% believe in hell and the devil. 42% believe in evolution and 39% believe in creationism. 33% believe in UFOs.

That was on page 1. But the big story-- literally; it is called The Big Story-- is "Foreign Policy Debate Suddenly Transformed." There are still photos of Bill and Hill up all over India, like in little shops and restaurants. People love the Clintons here. But do they ever hate Bush-- or at least his foreign policy. The NIE that was leaked this weekend and exposed the Bush Regime warmongering lies about Iran's nuclear intentions and capabilities, are the biggest international story here. On the same page there is also a story about how Bush is still insisting how dangerous Iran is.People here do not buy it. They're all counting on their photos of Bill and Hill to be relevant again-- and to save the word from a madman.


UPDATE: AND THE INDIANS AREN'T THE ONLY ONES WHO ARE HAPPY

One could infer from the new Time that the American military is even happier than the Indians. A few weeks ago I was at a dinner where Senator Tester said he felt Bush was going to attack Iran before the end of his term. I think we're all assuming that bet is off-- even if Cheney hasn't given up his bloodthirsty dreams.