Ritter is right.

SCOTT RITTER SAYS U.S. PLANS JUNE ATTACK ON IRAN, ‘COOKED’ JAN. 30 IRAQI ELECTION RESULTS

By Mark Jensen

United for Peace of Pierce County (WA)

February 19, 2005

Scott Ritter, appearing with journalist Dahr Jamail yesterday in Washington State, dropped two shocking bombshells in a talk delivered to a packed house in Olympia’s Capitol Theater. The ex-Marine turned UNSCOM weapons inspector said that George W. Bush has "signed off" on plans to bomb Iran in June 2005, and claimed the U.S. manipulated the results of the recent Jan. 30 elections in Iraq.

Olympians like to call the Capitol Theater "historic," but it's doubtful whether the eighty-year-old edifice has ever been the scene of more portentous revelations.

The principal theme of Scott Ritter's talk was Americans’ duty to protect the U.S. Constitution by taking action to bring an end to the illegal war in Iraq. But in passing, the former UNSCOM weapons inspector stunned his listeners with two pronouncements. Ritter said plans for a June attack on Iran have been submitted to President George W. Bush, and that the president has approved them. He also asserted that knowledgeable sources say U.S. officials "cooked" the results of the Jan. 30 elections in Iraq.

On Iran, Ritter said that President George W. Bush has received and signed off on orders for an aerial attack on Iran planned for June 2005. Its purported goal is the destruction of Iran’s alleged program to develop nuclear weapons, but Ritter said neoconservatives in the administration also expected that the attack would set in motion a chain of events leading to regime change in the oil-rich nation of 70 million -- a possibility Ritter regards with the greatest skepticism.

The former Marine also said that the Jan. 30 elections, which George W. Bush has called "a turning point in the history of Iraq, a milestone in the advance of freedom," were not so free after all. Ritter said that U.S. authorities in Iraq had manipulated the results in order to reduce the percentage of the vote received by the United Iraqi Alliance from 56% to 48%.

Asked by UFPPC's Ted Nation about this shocker, Ritter said an official involved in the manipulation was the source, and that this would soon be reported by a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist in a major metropolitan magazine -- an obvious allusion to New Yorker reporter Seymour M. Hersh.

On Jan. 17, the New Yorker posted an article by Hersh entitled The Coming Wars (New Yorker, January 24-31, 2005). In it, the well-known investigative journalist claimed that for the Bush administration, "The next strategic target [is] Iran." Hersh also reported that "The Administration has been conducting secret reconnaissance missions inside Iran at least since last summer." According to Hersh, "Defense Department civilians, under the leadership of Douglas Feith, have been working with Israeli planners and consultants to develop and refine potential nuclear, chemical-weapons, and missile targets inside Iran. . . . Strategists at the headquarters of the U.S. Central Command, in Tampa, Florida, have been asked to revise the military’s war plan, providing for a maximum ground and air invasion of Iran. . . . The hawks in the Administration believe that it will soon become clear that the Europeans’ negotiated approach [to Iran] cannot succeed, and that at that time the Administration will act."

Scott Ritter said that although the peace movement failed to stop the war in Iraq, it had a chance to stop the expansion of the war to other nations like Iran and Syria. He held up the specter of a day when the Iraq war might be remembered as a relatively minor event that preceded an even greater conflagration.

Scott Ritter's talk was the culmination of a long evening devoted to discussion of Iraq and U.S. foreign policy. Before Ritter spoke, Dahr Jamail narrated a slide show on Iraq focusing on Fallujah. He showed more than a hundred vivid photographs taken in Iraq, mostly by himself. Many of them showed the horrific slaughter of civilians.

Dahr Jamail argued that U.S. mainstream media sources are complicit in the war and help sustain support for it by deliberately downplaying the truth about the devastation and death it is causing.

Jamail was, until recently, one of the few unembedded journalists in Iraq and one of the only independent ones. His reports have gained a substantial following and are available online at dahrjamailiraq.com.

Friday evening's event in Olympia was sponsored by South Puget Sound Community College's Student Activities Board, Veterans for Peace, 100 Thousand and Counting, Olympia Movement for Justice & Peace, and United for Peace of Pierce County.

I really hope that this news is not true. And if so the American people had learned from this last unjust war and not fall for the propaganda that if this is true will be spilling out of the White House like yesterdays sewage. IF Bush decides to attack I hope that this will be the silver bullet that kills his evil rein and impeachment hearings swiftly follow.

Hugs,

Greg

Greg Seattle Wa [email protected]

http://www.male4malescorts.com/reviews/gregseattle.html

http://seaboy4hire.tripod.com

At the risk of sounding blasé about the whole subject, why should an imminent invasion of Iran come as any surprise? And a majority of Americans will quietly, or not so quietly, condone it. Why? Two simple reasons... no wait, three simple reasons... 1) Iran is governed by a fundamentalist muslim governent. In the minds of most Americans, fundmentalist muslim = insane terrorist. 2) Many, if not most voting Americans remember the extreme embarrassment Iran caused "God's Own Nation" during that whole hostage situation way back when. Isn't about time Iran has it's come-uppance?

3) Bush is Emperor of the World. That is obvious due to the overwhelming mandate handed to him in 2004. Only an Emperor would tour Europe making bossy demands and threats left and right as he has this past week. It's unimagineable that he would be chastising Russia about the freedom of the press the same week as the Jeff Gannon story came to light, but there you have it. The Emperor has no clothes, but he's still the Emperor, and you'd best not say anything about it.

The next four years promise to be a very bumpy ride. There'll be no impeachment, no punishment, no stopping him. We can only hope, pray, and work our best to ensure a better path in 2008. God willing, America will come to it's senses by then, for I shudder to think who might be Bush's sanctioned protegé.

Trix

Hey Glutes - Don't think I've forgotten about this idiocy.

We're six weeks away from the supposed attack on Iran, and I can't wait to see if the likes of glutes, Trixie and Scott Ritter - who are oh-so-sure of themselves and their paranoid, reckless predictions, only to be proven wrong again and again -- will at least confess their error.

It goes into the pantheon of malicious liberal error, right along with such gems as:

* Bush will stage a terrorist attack on U.S. soil before the election to ensure he will win

* Bush already has OBL captured and the GOP will reveal that in September or October to ensure Bush's re-election

* The Evil Genius Karl Rove will force Cheney off the topic by claiming "health problems" and replace him with a more popular figure, such as Rudy Guiliani or Colin Powell.

* Karl Rove will be dragged out of the White House in handcuffs for having disclosed the identity of a covert CIA agent

* Jeff Gannon will be the downfall of the Bush Administration

And on and on and on and on . . . .

Doug:

Occasionally, I see a glimmer of hope that you're not the boy who guzzled the Republican koolaid, then you go off on a rant and I see the telltale purple juice dripping from the sides of your mouth (I could have been nastier, I could have said "your gaping hole"). }(

If you bothered to read the NY Times today, you'll see stories about the problems of forming a government in Iraq (no clear sign that will happen anytime soon) as well as the continuing saga of our troops having to go out on dangerous patrols with half-assed scrounged armor for their Humvees. And Georgie boy just loves our troops! He doesn't give a rat's ass about anyone but his wealthy pals, so accept that fact and get over it. Dubya is a pathological liar, an unprincipled asshole, and really ought to be on trial for war crimes. We know that won't happen, with the Party of Jesus fawning on his every lying word.

For all the idiocy you attribute to what Glutes posted, the same could be said for the lies of the Republicans. Remember how endless tax cuts would get our economy booming? Remember how Bush claimed when he was running against Gore, that if oil prices went up, he would go right to the Saudis and tell them to open the spigot? Remember how Bush said removing Saddam would reduce terror, then when a recent report comes out indicating terrorist incidents are at all all time high, they just bury the report.

So the Iraqis had elections. The simple fact of an election doe not a blossoming democracy make. The old Soviet Union had elections. Nobody ever called it a democracy.

You've spoken of democracy in the Middle East as if it were inevitable. Don't count the chickens before they hatch. You may get to eat a few shit sandwiches yourself when all is said and done. The insurgency attacks are increasing, and things aren't exactly a bed of roses in Iraq. I'll be the first to say you have the right to crow when the violence has ceased and people in Iraq have a true semblance of normal life again. At the present, you're just spouting hot air.

Dougie, I don't know wether to feel honored, or threatened, that you keep track of my posts. Either way, Bully!

If you looked at your channel for 'fair & balanced' Faux news this last Sunday, you would have seen a 'special' they did about the "Iranian threat". You probably were so enamored with Shep and Major Garrett, you probably didn't even follow the content.

The war drums are beating slowly Dougie, but they are still beating.