has anyone checked the balloons lately?

“Hostile” Iran Sparks U.S. Attack Plan

“A second American aircraft carrier steamed into the Persian Gulf Tuesday as the Pentagon ordered military commanders to develop new options for attacking Iran.”

and then Gates trots out his they’re killing us in Iraq crock. Not to be outdone, Mullen drops this load…

No attacks are imminent and the last thing the Pentagon wants is another war, but Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen has warned Iran not to assume the U.S. military can’t strike.

“I have reserve capability, in particular our Navy and our Air Force so it would be a mistake to think that we are out of combat capability,” Mullen said.

Feeling left out, Maliki drops trou with his contribution…

Targets would include everything from the plants where weapons are made to the headquarters of the organization known as the Quds Force which directs operations in Iraq. Later this week Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is expected to confront the Iranians with evidence of their meddling and demand a halt.

And, if that isn’t enough, the shoe lady’s stepping in.

the State Department has begun drafting an ultimatum that would tell the Iranians to knock it off - or else.

Hope no one was planning on a vacation this summer.

props to Anders for putting this video together.

(xposted @ Random musings…)

from the WaPo transcript:

CLINTON: With respect to our long-term challenges, Ambassador Crocker, the administration has announced that it will negotiate an agreement with the government of Iraq by the end of July that would provide the legal authorities for U.S. troops to continue to conduct operations in Iraq.

Let me ask you: Do you anticipate that the Iraqi government would submit such an agreement to the Iraqi parliament for ratification?

U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ RYAN CROCKER: The Iraqi government has indicated it will bring the agreement to the Council of Representatives. At this point, it is not clear, at least to me, whether that will be for a formal vote or whether they will repeat the process they used in November with the declaration of principles, in which it was simply read to the members of the parliament.

CLINTON: Does the administration plan to submit this agreement to our Congress?

CROCKER: At this point, Senator, we do not anticipate that the agreements will have within them any elements that would require the advise-and-consent procedure. We intend to negotiate this as an executive agreement.

(@ 4:04)

(xposted@)

Larry Chin, of Online Journal, flaunts the hollow facade of the neoliberal elite cadre and their complete dependency on the millisecond flashes of long-term memory of their audience.

Neoliberal elite Zbigniew Brzezinski, one of the leading architects of the “war on terrorism” across the Middle East and the Eurasian subcontinent (and whose book The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives laid the groundwork for 9/11) has adopted a politically expedient wolf-in-sheep’s clothing role.

His much-publicized criticisms of Bush-Cheney’s “mismanagement” of Iraq (whose latest piece, The Smart Way Out, serves as a primer on the current neoliberal war policy) has garnered raves from those who are misguided or ignorant enough to believe that Brzezinski is, in any way, “antiwar.”

Are you feeling up to a Strangelovian wet dream?

The disaster unfolding in Washington is like nothing the earth has ever seen. The highest form of government ever produced by man is putting the final stages of planning on freedom’s demise, and yet the freest people in the history of the world believe that they are powerless to change anything, as they watch excitedly from the sidelines, screaming patriotic hymns to Clinton and McCain. The planners and their stooges ultimately believe in their own ability to carry forward the grand “success” stories of Iraq and Afghanistan into the rest of the Muslim world. The illusion that they can destroy select areas of the rest of the world without destroying us, helps to calm the delirious worry-free psyches of an immoral society, ready to kill the world to save their own sorry asses.

Juan Cole has an informative collection of translations that explain the fallout of the resulting mutiny in Basra of the Puppet Regimes inept matchstick men. I find it hard to believe that this wasn’t tucked away in the back of his mind somewhere before he decidifieded to embark on his first reign of terror on his own people.

The induction of Badr Corps fighters (the paramilitary of ISCI) and those of the Da’wa Party into security positions came in the wake of the firing of thousands of officers and troops who had refused to obey orders to fire on the Mahdi Army militiamen in Baghdad and the southern provinces. They were accused of mutiny.

One of the stories he notes, from McClatchy, deals with the coinciding Sadr City airstrikes and quotes one Sadrist as saying;

“We realized what kind of government we have: They are like foxes,” Abu Amir said. “The Americans are our enemies, not our friends. Maliki is an agent of the Americans. “

Not to worry though… the beacon of journalistik integrity has got the story covered.

BAGHDAD — Iraqi security forces fanned out into the suburbs and ports of Basra on Wednesday, as life in that southern city slowly began to return to normal, with government offices reopening and residents venturing more confidently into the streets.

Witnesses said that Iraqi forces now controlled central Basra and its northern border, and that they had begun moving into militia strongholds north of the city.

But sporadic violence continued three days after the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr ordered his Mahdi Army to stop its armed resistance to the American-supported Iraqi assault, and demanded concessions from the government in return.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled broadcast.

What is the real death toll in Iraq?

The results range from just under 100,000 dead to well over a million. Inevitably, the issue has become a political football, with the Bush administration, the British government and other supporters of the US-led occupation seizing on the lowest estimates and opponents on the highest.

Just Foreign Policy notes:

Thus, a cautious, balanced appraisal based on available scientific information would suggest an Iraqi death toll today of between 300,000 and 1.2 million since March 2003.

Aaron Glantz has set up warcomeshome.org in a project with KPFA.org and they will have live video and audio of all three days of the IVAW:Winter Soldier gathering.

The three day live broadcast will be co-hosted by Aaron Glantz and former Army medic and KPFA Morning Show host Aimee Allison