PERRspectives: Iran Archives

Iran Archives

	Cheney, Romney and the Iran Sanctions Busters Three weeks ago, CBS 60 Minutes revealed Iran's continued success in acquiring sensitive, weapons-related U.S. technologies despite the American regime of sanctions. Now, the New York Times has documented a long list of multinational American companies receiving billions in federal contracts while they were doing business with Tehran. If that seems like an ironic turn of events for right-wingers taking a hard line towards Iran, it should. After all, Mitt Romney's brief divestment crusade backfired when it turned out his... more Posted on March 8, 2010 \| Comments (1)

	Republicans Now the Party of Armageddon When the obscure evangelical radio host turned Biblical numerologist Harold Camping predicts the end of the world will arrive on May 21, 2011, it's not a cause for concern. But what about when many of the leading voices of a major American political party not only look forward to the Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ but believe it will come in the form of an End of Days conflict with Iran over the fate of Israel? Then you'd... more Posted on January 4, 2010 \| Comments (2)

	Will John Kerry Take Reagan's Cake and Bible to Iran? Word that Senator John Kerry has suggested to the White House that he undertake a mission to Iran predictably has the conservative commentariat apoplectic. But while many worry that such a high-level U.S. visit could undermine the opposition at a time of growing unrest with - and unease for - the regime, the right-wing doth protest too much. After all, while a Kerry trip to Iran would represent what the Wall Street Journal deemed "the first high-level U.S. emissary to... more Posted on December 24, 2009 \| Comments (1)

	The Return of Iran/Contra As the United States begins multiparty talks with Iran over its nuclear program, many of the cast of characters from Tehran fiascos past are coming out of the woodwork to weigh in once again. Jimmy Carter advised President Obama that "the best thing we can do is engage them and stop making these idle threats." Meanwhile, Michael Ledeen surfaced on the pages of the Wall Street Journal to warn "change in Iran requires a change in government." Of course, Ledeen... more Posted on October 1, 2009 \| Comments (0)

	Obama, Iran and the Echoes of the Cuban Missile Crisis To be sure, the growing tensions - and stakes - over the Iranian nuclear program are different in kind and degree from the brinksmanship of the Cuban Missile Crisis 47 years ago. But events of the past week have stirred the echoes of that confrontation with the Soviet Union. In each case, an international gathering in the U.S. became the forum for dramatic revelations of duplicity by American foes. And President Obama, like Kennedy in 1962, may have secured concessions... more Posted on September 26, 2009 \| Comments (0)

	Mousavi and Reagan's Iran-Contra Fiasco As President Obama offered perhaps his strongest rhetorical support to date for opposition protesters in Iran, CQ offered a look back at the former 1980's prime minister turned accidental reformer, Mir-Hossain Mousavi. In 1983, Mousavi, CQ reported, ''had to be aware" of Iranian-sponsored attacks on the United States in Lebanon, including the devastating barracks bombing that killed 241 Marines in Beirut. As it turns out, Mousavi was also intimately involved in another of Ronald Reagan's disastrous encounters with Iran just... more Posted on June 23, 2009 \| Comments (1)

	Ronald Reagan, Cream Puff As the chaos and unrest escalates in Iran, Republicans have predictably exhumed Ronald Reagan to club President Obama. Confusing Soviet domination of Eastern Europe with an Iranian election among candidates all blessed by the ruling theocrats in Tehran, John McCain blasted the President, recalling that Reagan "stood up for Polish workers in Gdansk." Dana Rohrbacher (R-CA) wasn't content to declare to Gipper "always knew" to "be vocally supportive of all those people who are oppressed," he denounced Obama as a... more Posted on June 18, 2009 \| Comments (3)

	McCain's Double Trouble with Letterman and Iran In ways large and small, Americans are reminded almost daily of the wisdom of their rejection of John McCain last November. Now you can add the Iran unrest and the Letterman-Palin flap to the growing list. The same John McCain who in April 2007 sang in jest "bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran" on Monday scolded President Obama, insisting "I hope we will act." That flashback came just days after McCain, who in 1998 slandered Chelsea Clinton with a vulgar... more Posted on June 16, 2009 \| Comments (1)

	Fleischer Declares Reform Movement Bush's Gift to Iran Freedom, George W. Bush repeatedly insisted, "is not America's gift to the world, it is God's gift to humanity." Now with tens of thousands of protesters in the streets of Tehran, former Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer declared the reform movement is his boss' gift to Iran. In an email last Friday on the eve of the Iranian vote, Fleischer wasn't content to give his boss credit for the defeat of the Hezbollah coalition in the Lebanese elections a week... more Posted on June 15, 2009 \| Comments (0)

	Despite His Past Iran Follies, Romney Blames Obama for Election Fraud That Richard Perle and Frank Gaffney, two of the neocon cheerleaders for the disaster in Iraq, would blame President Obama for the election fraud in Iran is unsurprising. That once and future Republican White House hopeful Mitt Romney of all people would parrot the charge is hilarious. After all, from his repeated conflation of Shiite and Sunni to his aborted crusade for disinvestment from Tehran and other jaw-droppers, Mitt Romney's pronouncements on Iran have been a comedy of errors. Just... more Posted on June 14, 2009 \| Comments (0)

	After Failing Islam 101, Romney Blasts Obama Egypt Speech If Barack Obama's speech in Egypt is being criticized by both Osama Bin Laden and Mitt Romney, the President must be doing something right. After all, as Mitt's rich history of jaw-dropping mistakes and demeaning statements about Islam suggests, Governor Romney is perhaps the person least qualified to pontificate on American outreach to the Muslim world. Consider, for example, Mitt's November 2007 revelation that Muslims need not apply for positions a future Romney cabinet. Mansoor Ijaz related his exchange with... more Posted on June 4, 2009 \| Comments (2)

	Gingrich Called CIA's 2007 Iran NIE a "Coup d'Etat" Yesterday, I detailed the legion of leading Republicans and their acolytes in the right-wing echo who less than two years ago insisted that the CIA was an "anti-Bush cabal" seeking to "undermine" the President. Leading the calls for Speaker Nancy Pelosi to step down over her claim the CIA "misled" Congress is her disgraced predecessor, Newt Gingrich. As it turns out, Gingrich himself didn't merely calls the agency's 2007 Iran National Intelligence Estimate "misleading." Newt labeled it a "coup d'etat."... more Posted on May 21, 2009 \| Comments (1)

	GOP in 2007: CIA "Misleading" and an "Anti-Bush Cabal" That House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has badly bungled the imbroglio over what she knew and when about the Bush administration's regime of detainee torture is hard to dispute. Seemingly snatching PR defeat from the jaws of victory, Pelosi should have instead simply called the Republicans' bluff and insisted on investigations of torture architects, perpetrators and "accomplices" alike, letting the bipartisan chips fall where they may. But by savaging Pelosi for her statement that the CIA "misled" Congress, Bush's Republican water... more Posted on May 20, 2009 \| Comments (2)

	20 Years After Iran-Contra, Cheney Defends Torture's "Little Guys" Announcing his Christmas 1992 pardons of Caspar Weinberger and five other Iran-Contra figures, President George H.W. Bush introduced a time honored Republican scandal evasion by decrying "the criminalization of policy differences." Now 22 years after his own role in a Congressional minority report which blasted the allegations of Reagan administration abuses of power as "hysterical," Dick Cheney is back to defend the "little guys" now at the center of the Bush 43 administration's regime of detainee torture. In an interview... more Posted on May 6, 2009 \| Comments (2)

	Obama Omits Reagan's Cake and Bible in Message to Iran On Friday, President Obama took the unusual step of sending video greetings to the people of Iran to mark the celebration of Nowruz, the Persian New Year. Unsurprisingly, many on the right were quick to scoff at Obama's call for "engagement that is honest and grounded in mutual respect" and paean to "the true greatness of the Iranian people and civilization." But while Commentary tried to rewrite history by claiming Obama's message was "perfectly in keeping with George W. Bush's... more Posted on March 20, 2009 \| Comments (1)

	Russian Missile Sales to Iran May Raise Prospect of Israeli Strike Coming in the wake of Russian warships passing through the Panama Canal and visiting Cuba, conflicting reports that Moscow intends to sell an advanced anti-aircraft missile system to Iran are ratcheting up tensions with the United States. But more worrisome still is the heightened prospect of a preemptive Israeli air strike against Tehran's nuclear infrastructure before the S-300 system becomes operational. On Sunday, Iranian official Esmail Kosari seemingly confirmed earlier rumors of the purchase, telling Tehran's IRNA news agency, "After... more Posted on December 23, 2008 \| Comments (0)

	McCain Mimics Bush with Iran Jokes, Bin Laden Boasts Just one month after airing an ad declaring "only a fool or a fraud talks tough or romantically about war," John McCain once again joked about creating carnage in Iran. On the stump Tuesday, McCain added killing Iranians with cigarette addiction to last year's musing about "bomb bomb Iran." Whether he's yukking it up over conflict with Tehran, following Osama Bin Laden to the "gates of hell" or just being the "worst nightmare" of Al Qaeda and Hamas, John McCain... more Posted on July 9, 2008 \| Comments (2)

	McCain Proclaims Himself a Fool in New Ad Just three days after his calamitous "green screen" speech, John McCain today released his first general election ad, one which may prove similarly damaging. Declaring "only a fool or a fraud talks tough or romantically about war," McCain invited Americans to revisit his still-jaw dropping "bomb bomb Iran" joke during an April 2007 town hall meeting. As you'll remember, McCain in April 2007 famously responded to a question about when America would "send an air mail message to Tehran." Singing... more Posted on June 6, 2008 \| Comments (1)

	McCain, Like Romney and Cheney, Runs Afoul of Iran Divestment Pledge Addressing the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) today, Republican presidential nominee John McCain called for a global campaign of divestment from Iran. He might want to start with his own campaign manager, Rick Davis, whose work on behalf of Ukrainian mogul Rinat Akhmetov included business dealings with Tehran. As it turns out, John McCain is following Mitt Romney and Dick Cheney as just the latest hard-line Republican to run afoul of his own plans for Iranian disinvestment. McCain used... more Posted on June 2, 2008 \| Comments (3)

	McCain Finally Rejects Hagee Endorsement He Sought 85 days after they shared a San Antonio stage to announce their partnership, John McCain finally rejected the endorsement of end times Texas Pastor John Hagee. After weeks of retreat in the face of Hagee's bigoted comments, McCain surrendered altogether on the day after Hagee's past statements about Adolf Hitler's divinely mandated role in driving European Jewry to Israel became public. Today, McCain played dumb, claiming ignorance regarding the man whose endorsement he sought and whose Armageddon-accelerating organization (Christians United... more Posted on May 22, 2008 \| Comments (0)

	Memo to Lieberman: Is Hagee Still Moses? When it comes to Pastor John Hagee, John McCain and Joe Lieberman have a lot in common. Both men addressed the 2007 convention of Hagee's organization, Christians United for Israel (CUFI). McCain and Lieberman each voiced support for a pre-emptive strike against Iran. But while John McCain aggressively sought Hagee's endorsement, only Joe Lieberman compared the Texas pastor to Moses. Lieberman's glowing tribute to Hagee came during the Connecticut Senator's speech to CUFI last year (captured on video here): "He... more Posted on May 22, 2008 \| Comments (0)

	McCain Defended Reagan, North During Iran-Contra Scandal Just 48 hours after jumping on the Bush appeasement bandwagon, John McCain is probably regretting his leap. First, it was revealed that the tough-talking Republican presidential nominee was for negotiating with the Hamas government in the Palestinian territories before he was against it. Then Americans learned that in 2003, Mr. Straight Talk favored engagement with the terror-sponsoring state of Syria. Now in his accusations against Democrat Barack Obama, John McCain conveniently forgot Ronald Reagan's dealings with Tehran during the Iran-Contra... more Posted on May 17, 2008 \| Comments (1)

	After Hagee Apology to Catholics, McCain Still Silent on Armageddon Views Facing increasing scrutiny over his statements describing the Catholic Church as "the great whore" and a "false cult system," Texas pastor and John McCain endorser John Hagee today issued a letter of apology to his "Catholic brothers and sisters in Christ." But while Hagee's chosen candidate previously distanced himself from the minister's slurs towards Catholics and residents of New Orleans, on the topic that may matter most, Mr. Straight Talk has remained silent. Does John McCain agree with Pastor John... more Posted on May 13, 2008 \| Comments (0)

	Obama Disavows Wright; McCain Still Silent on Hagee, Armageddon and Iran Barack Obama in no uncertain terms today made a clear break with his incendiary former minister, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. But despite Obama's disavowal of his one-time pastor's outrageous statements, the media spotlight continues to shine on Wright. Meanwhile, John McCain has maintained his silence on the dangerous vision of Armageddon and Iran held by his own pastoral supporter, John Hagee. In the wake of Wright's erratic grandstanding at events on Sunday and Monday, Senator Obama made it clear he... more Posted on April 29, 2008 \| Comments (9)

	McCain-Hagee Armageddon Watch: Day 61 On Sunday, Barack Obama appeared on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace and marked an end to the right-wing network's 772-day "Obama Countdown Clock." Meanwhile, another clock, this time for Republican John McCain, keeps on ticking. 61 days after accepting his endorsement, the media has not asked - and John McCain has not answered - whether or not he agrees with Pastor John Hagee that war with Iran is the fulfillment of the biblical prophecy of Armageddon. On February 27,... more Posted on April 28, 2008 \| Comments (3)

	McCain, Hagee and the Media's Missing Question on War with Iran In New Orleans as part of his so-called "Forgotten Places" tour, former Navy airman John McCain found himself evading incoming flak over the most recent comments of Pastor John Hagee. Coming just days after George Stephanolous lobbed him a Hagee softball, McCain faced questions over Hagee's assertions that "God's hand" was behind Hurricane Katrina because New Orleans was a "sinful city." But still absent from the media discussion about John McCain and his supporter the End-Times Pastor Hagee is the... more Posted on April 24, 2008 \| Comments (3)

	Five Questions for Petraeus and Crocker In their testimony before Congress today, General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker began painting a picture of American progress in Iraq. But even as the United States faces a diminishing threat from Al Qaeda thanks in part to former Sunni insurgents the U.S. has largely co-opted, American forces find themselves increasingly engaged in an intra-sectarian Shiite conflict in which Iran is seemingly backing all sides. And with General Petraeus calling for an indefinite pause in the drawdown of U.S.... more Posted on April 8, 2008 \| Comments (2)

	Iran Brokers Basra Deal Events on the ground in Iraq continue to defy the Bush's administration's ongoing misrepresentation of the Iranian threat there. Just one day after Republican Senator Lindsay Graham wrongly claimed Iran was backing just one of the three Shiite forces in Basra comes word that Tehran brokered a deal aimed at halting the carnage there. As McClatchy, USA Today, the New York Times and others are reporting, Iraqi lawmakers traveled to Qom where a general of the Iranian Qods force helped... more Posted on March 31, 2008 \| Comments (1)

	Four Strikes and You're Out: McCain on Al Qaeda and Iran If the contest for the White House followed the rules of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," John McCain would be going home empty-handed. At last four times in the past month, George W. Bush's would-be Republican successor sounded the alarm over a non-existent Al Qaeda-Iran alliance in Iraq. But for a lifeline from Joe Lieberman, McCain would have been booted off the stage by now. As ThinkProgress detailed this morning, McCain's confusion over friend and foe began at least... more Posted on March 20, 2008 \| Comments (3)

	Wrong Again: McCain Proclaims Al Qaeda-Iran Alliance As I documented just two day ago, John McCain has been wrong from the start about virtually every aspect of the Iraq war. From Ahmed Chalabi and Saddam's WMD to the prospects of Americans troops being greeting as liberators and the certainty of a "rapid" U.S. victory in "three weeks," John McCain had it wrong at every turn. Today in Jordan, the Republican presidential nominee made a much fundamental - and shocking - mistake. Would-be commander-in-chief John McCain literally doesn't... more Posted on March 18, 2008 \| Comments (6)

	John McCain: Unfit for Command Over the past week, Democrat Hillary Clinton has proclaimed her potential Republican rival John McCain to be the gold standard of wartime presidents. But lost in Clinton's fierce barrage against Barack Obama's national security experience is the inescapable conclusion about John McCain's own suitability as Commander-in-Chief. McCain's mistake-filled record, questionable judgment, calamitous misreading of history, nonchalance about American casualties and notorious short fuse all combine to make him a dangerous choice to lead an America at war. Simply put, John... more Posted on March 10, 2008 \| Comments (7)

	McCain, Hagee and Armageddon as Foreign Policy Few developments provide greater schadenfreude for liberals than division and conflict among the ranks of the American Taliban. So watching the Catholic League's Bill Donahue burst a blood vessel over John McCain's embrace of the endorsement of Pastor John Hagee is must-see entertainment for Democrats. But as I first wrote almost two years ago, when it comes to his End Times vision of conflict with Iran, John Hagee is no laughing matter. In San Antonio on Wednesday, the Texas pastor... more Posted on February 28, 2008 \| Comments (52)

	New York Times Reporter Subpoenaed Over Sources That cheering sound you may have heard this morning was conservatives' applauding the news that New York Times reporter James Risen has been subpoenaed in an effort to force him to reveal his confidential sources. But while Republican rage may be temporarily muted over the inquiry into Risen's 2006 book, many on the right won't be satisfied until Risen goes to jail for his cardinal offense, revealing President Bush's illegal domestic surveillance program. The subpoena James Risen received from a... more Posted on February 1, 2008 \| Comments (2)

	Groundhog Day for Bush on CIA Tapes, Iran NIE Americans watching President Bush on Thursday could be forgiven for confusing his press conference with the movie Groundhog Day. In the 1993 film, Bill Murray wakes each morning only to realize he's reliving the previous day. Discussing the mushrooming CIA tapes scandal yesterday, President Bush claimed he had no recollection of knowing about the tapes' destruction in 2005 until briefed by CIA director Michael Hayden last month. Of course, that's virtually the same line he offered regarding the controversial Iran... more Posted on December 21, 2007 \| Comments (1)

	Right Claims Iran NIE a CIA Plot Against Bush President Bush's amen corner in the conservative commentariat is apoplectic over the new National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran. After all, the report's conclusion that Tehran suspended its nuclear weapons program inn 2003 knocked the legs out from their "World War III" rhetoric. And as you'd expect, the same people who helped bring you the war in Iraq are now quick to claim CIA incompetence and conspiracies are behind the new assessment. At the head of the list of the... more Posted on December 4, 2007 \| Comments (9)

	Bush's M.C. Escher Strategy for Iraq More and more, President Bush's strategy in Iraq resembles an M.C. Escher illustration. Like the hands drawing each other or the elegant depiction of stairways that cannot possibly meet, the military progress of the U.S. surge is producing an image of a future Iraq that, while glorious to behold, can never be built. The very American alliances with Sunni tribal leaders that are reducing sectarian violence and the threat from Al Qaeda also threaten to undermine the Shiite majority government... more Posted on November 30, 2007 \| Comments (2)

	Who's Counting? Bush and Giuliani on the Next World War President Bush's disturbingly flip comment Wednesday about Iran and World War III not only revealed his apparent comfort when discussing global conflagration. Bush's gaffe also showed the common vision between himself, the man most likely to succeed him as head of the Republican Party and those who advise them both. For George Bush, Rudy Giuliani and the likes of Norman Podhoretz, the only dispute about "world war" is whether we're already fighting it and what number we're on. For President... more Posted on October 18, 2007 \| Comments (1)

	Romney Conflates All Muslims in New Ad Just days after his comical "sit down with your attorneys" gaffe over military action against Iran, Mitt Romney has unveiled a new tough-on-terrorism ad. But taking a tough line against Iran's development of nuclear technology, Romney once again returned to his tried and untrue formula of conflating all Muslims into a single unified threat to the United States. The new "Jihad" spot depict a determined Romney outside his tony Belmont, Massachusetts home. Calling for a 100,000 more troops for the... more Posted on October 12, 2007 \| Comments (2)

	Ahmadinejad and Bush: Parallels and Second Comings The third visit to New York by the bombastic Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is producing predictable howls of protest. While Columbia students protested his upcoming address there and Mitt Romney called for his indictment for genocide charges when he appears before the UN, CBS 60 Minutes host Scott Pelle lectured Ahmadinejad on the supposedly laudable religiosity of his arch-foe, President Bush. But largely lost in the build-up of the Ahmadinejad-Bush confrontation are the striking - and disturbing - similarities between... more Posted on September 24, 2007 \| Comments (1)

	Romney to UN: Indict Iran's Ahmadinejad Just days after highlighting his own foreign policy inexperience in a boomerang attack on his Democratic opponents, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is at it again. Returning to his favorite bogeyman in Tehran, Romney called on the United Nations to ban Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from speaking to the world body next week and instead indict him for genocide. Romney's penchant for grandstanding was on display in his letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. Citing Iran's support of Hezbollah,... more Posted on September 17, 2007 \| Comments (3)

	Rove, Cheney and the Death of the Bush Doctrine Among the more tragi-comic aspects of the departure of Karl Rove is the media's renewed interest in the Bush Doctrine and its three tenets of no safe havens for terrorists, preventive war and democracy promotion. Last Monday, Rove claimed that the Bush Doctrine would live on and be the President's legacy. And this morning, the Washington Post described a frustrated President Bush stymied by what it portrayed as bureaucratic stonewalling of his ailing global democracy project. Lost in this flurry... more Posted on August 20, 2007 \| Comments (0)

	Like Father, Like Son Karl Marx famously remarked that historical events occur twice, the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce. In the case of President Bush's commutation of Scooter Libby's prison sentence, Marx had it half-right. Americans are reliving George H.W. Bush's 1992 Iran-Contra pardons, with the same tragic consequences for the rule of law in the United States. All that's missing in 2007 is the convenient death of one of the principal conspirators. As Digby, Jane Hamsher and Kagro X... more Posted on July 8, 2007 \| Comments (2)

	The Death of the Bush Doctrine That wheezing sound you may have heard this week amid the chaos in Gaza, the carnage in Baghdad and the conflict in Lebanon was the final gasps of the Bush Doctrine in its death throes. Just two years after the President and his neo-conservative allies basked in the glow of their self-proclaimed moment of triumph, the Bush Doctrine of no safe havens for terrorists, American preventive war and democracy promotion is discredited, discarded - and dead. The ruins of the... more Posted on June 16, 2007 \| Comments (3)

	Armageddon as Foreign Policy: Dobson, Bush and Iran While Jerry Falwell has passed from the scene, many of his fellow End-of-Times evangelical allies still enjoy unfettered access to and dangerous influence over President Bush, especially when it comes to Iran. As Focus on the Family head James Dobson reported on his radio show on Monday, he and a group of evangelical leaders met with Bush at the White House to discuss policies towards Tehran that keep all options on the table. As I wrote last year, that includes... more Posted on May 16, 2007 \| Comments (3)

	Halliburton Ends Sanctions-Busting Work in Iran On Monday, Dick Cheney's one-time firm Halliburton announced it had completed work on past contracts in Iran. That news comes just weeks after the company revealed it would move its Houston headquarters to Dubai in order to escape both American taxes and restrictions on business in the Middle East. As Perrspectives reported in February, Halliburton had side-stepped the U.S. sanctions regime in place against Iran since the 1990's by using a Cayman Islands subsidiary. And what should come as a... more Posted on April 10, 2007 \| Comments (0)

	Corporate Treason: Halliburton, Dubai and Iran With Sunday's announcement of its headquarters relocation to Dubai, Halliburton completed its transformation from mere war-profiteer to corporate traitor. The motivations for the move are simple: death and taxes. Shifting its corporate headquarters not only allows Halliburton to shaft American taxpayers. It enables Dick Cheney's old firm to comfortably expand its large and growing business with Iran and other declared terrorist enemies of the United States. The company, which raked in $2.3 billion in profits on revenue of $22.6 billion... more Posted on March 12, 2007 \| Comments (2)

	Romney, Cheney in Deep with Iran Investments In a high profile effort to bolster his credibility on national security, 2008 Republican White House hopeful Mitt Romney last week called on New York to divest its pension fund of any holdings in firms doing with business with Iran. But as it turns out, it is Mitt Romney's former employer with the ties to Tehran. And as you'd expect, Dick Cheney's Halliburton is in deep as well. Following the lead of former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Romney began... more Posted on February 26, 2007 \| Comments (6)

	Newsweek: Off-Script on Iran Last week, Perrspectives documented the controversy and contradictions surrounding the administration's case to provide Iranian meddling in Iraq ("Fool Me Once: Bush and Iran"). Today, Newsweek provides more of the backstory in "Straying from the Script." While there is evidence of Iranian weapons and agents in Iraq, JCS Chairman Peter Pace and Centcomm commander William Fallon disagreed with military briefers claiming the "highest levels" of the Tehran regime had authorized the activities. The resulting confusion led to rhetorical gymnastics from... more Posted on February 22, 2007 \| Comments (2)

	Fool Me Once: Bush and Iran As the debate over Iran's involvement in attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq heats up, the Bush White House is facing a credibility gap of historic proportions. Four and a half years after mangling the old saying himself, President Bush's Iran saber-rattling is suffering from the same "Fool Me Once" syndrome he bungled in September 2002: "There's a lot of talk about Iraq on our TV screens, and there should be, because we're trying to figure out how best to... more Posted on February 13, 2007 \| Comments (1)

	Groundhog Day: Iraq, Iran and the NIE After months and months of delays, the long-awaited National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq was delivered to Congress today. It is altogether fitting that the NIE crawled out from Langley on Groundhog Day. After all, like Bill Murray in the film Groundhog Day we've experienced this unsettling process of murky reports from the intelligence community before. And we're certainly in for at least six more weeks of conflict in Iraq. Wary of repeating George Tenet's 2002 NIE rosy portrait of American... more Posted on February 2, 2007 \| Comments (1)

	Richard Clarke's Security Challenges for 2007 In the Washington Post this New Year's Day, former counter-terrorism czar Richard Clarke has a compelling op-ed piece ("While You Were At War...") on the dangerous and rising opportunity costs of the Bush administration's Iraq fixation. In a nutshell, Clarke argues that while President Bush and the U.S. national security apparatus have been focused like a laser beam on "grave and deteriorating" war in Iraq, other mounting security challenges have fallen off the radar. While the emphasis may differ, Clarke's... more Posted on January 1, 2007 \| Comments (0)

	Homegrown Terrorism in the U.S. and Europe This week's revelations surrounding the UK terror plot targeting U.S. bound airliners once again focused attention on the phenomenon of "homegrown terrorism." As with last year's 7/7 "Underground Bombers," the Heathrow suspects are virtually all British residents, with most UK citizens and many second-generation Pakistani immigrants. And just as in the aftermath of last November's street riots in France, a flood of analysis seeks to explain the threat of radical Islamic extremism in Europe and its relative absence in the... more Posted on August 13, 2006 \| Comments (4)

	666: Armageddon, Iran and Bush Foreign Policy June 6, 2006 (6/6/06) is the 62nd anniversary of D-Day, one of the most glorious - and bloody days - in American military history. But as the American Prospect reports, for evangelical leaders close to President Bush such as Texas Pastor John Hagee, the number 666 has another important meaning for the future of the United States. 666 is the number to be borne by the Anti-Christ in the coming battle of Armageddon, which if Hagee has his way, will... more Posted on June 6, 2006 \| Comments (6)

	The Gospel According to Ahmadinejad The French paper Le Monde has just published the text of the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's letter to President Bush. Ahmadjinejad's missive skirts the central issue of the Iranian nuclear program and has been met with disdain by both the administration and the mullahs in Tehran. But in repeatedly calling upon the President to heed the teachings of Jesus, the letter reveals how completely Ahmadinejad misunderstands George W. Bush and his core supporters. As I've written before, the President's evangelical... more Posted on May 9, 2006 \| Comments (3)

	Iran, Bush and the Second Coming The tensions between the United States and Iran reached a new level over the past week. Following a series of announcements regarding its nuclear program and tests of new weapons systems, Tehran announced on Tuesday that it was purchasing the sophisticated Tor M1 anti-aircraft missile system from Russia. On Friday, the IAEA released its highly anticipated report on the Iranian nuclear program and its failure to meet UN Security Council deadline to stop its uranium enrichment efforts. Secretary of State... more Posted on May 1, 2006 \| Comments (24)

	Top 10 GOP Sound Bites, Iran Plan Edition The tumultuous events of the past week have led to a complete shake-up of the Top 10 GOP Sound Bites. Rumored plans for military strikes against Iran, revelations regarding President Bush's authorization to leak classified national security information to target political foes and the resignation of Tom Delay have combined to send some newcomers up the rankings and drop some old favorites off the charts. Rocketing to number one is the thrash metal "Wild Speculation (Fantasy Land)" by George Bush... more Posted on April 13, 2006 \| Comments (4)

	Freeh at Last: Revenge and Revisionism at the FBI On Sunday night, former FBI head Louis Freeh introduced his salacious new Clinton tell-all book, My FBI, on CBS 60 Minutes. For Freeh, the book is an opportunity not only to cash in, but to lash out. Scolded by the 9/11 Commission and savaged by the critics of his tenure at FBI, Freeh is now getting a chance to tell his side of the story. It's too bad he doesn't seem to be telling the truth. Even in advance of... more Posted on October 9, 2005 \| Comments (11)

	Getting Drafty: The Hybrid Model of National Service Ronald Reagan once famously said that presidents should "never say never" But when it comes to the reinstatement of the military draft, recent public opinion polls seem to suggest that the American people think "never" would be a fine idea, indeed. A recent AP/Ipsos poll showed only 27% of Americans favored conscription, with a whopping 70% opposed. As the casualties mount and recruiting woes build from the Iraq crisis, both political parties continue to make this issue moot for the... more Posted on June 26, 2005 \| Comments (1)

	The Axis of Evil Endorses W Foreign leaders continue to line up behind George Bush in the 2004 election. Joining Russia's nascent czar Vladimir Putin as a W endorser is Hasan Rowhani, head of the Supreme National Security Council, Iran's top security decision-making body. Unlike Bush, this leader from the Axis of Evil spoke seemed to speak honestly: "We haven't seen anything good from Democrats...We do not desire to see Democrats take over." The American people can only conclude that Iran, with its budding nuclear weapons... more Posted on October 20, 2004 \| Comments (0)