Iran

All of the 2016 Republican Presidential candidates, with the possible exception of Ron Paul, favored war with Iran.

Herding America to War With Iran (1/12/2012)

Bush threatens Iran with military action 17 Jun 2008 George Bush has warned Iran that military action is still "on the table" if it fails to respond to tightening diplomatic pressure to abandon its nuclear weapons programme. The EU is planning to announce the freezing of all overseas assets of the main bank in Iran. Sanctions are also to be tightened on gas and oil exports by Iran.

On CBS's Face the Nation, Lieberman said, "If [the Iranians] don't play by the rules, we've got to use our force, and to me, that would include taking military action to stop them from doing what they're doing."

Fearing Escalation, Pentagon Fought Cheney Iran Plan 06 Jun 2008 Pentagon officials firmly opposed a proposal by Vice President [sic] Dick Cheney last summer for airstrikes against Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) bases by insisting that the administration would have to make clear decisions about how far the United States would go in escalating the conflict with Iran, according to a former George W. Bush administration official. J. Scott Carpenter, who was then deputy assistant secretary of state in the State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, recalled in an interview that senior Defence Department (DoD) officials and the Joint Chiefs used the escalation issue as the main argument against the Cheney proposal.

First, describe Iran as evil – part of the axis of evil. An inherently evil person will inevitably do evil things and can't be negotiated with. An entire evil nation is a threat to other nations.
Second, describe Iran's leader as a "Hitler" who is inherently "evil" and cannot be reasoned with. Refuse to negotiate with him.
Then repeat the lie that Iran is on the verge of having nuclear weapons —weapons of mass destruction. IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei says they are at best many years away.
Call nuclear development "an existential threat" – a threat to our very existence.
Then suggest a single "surgical" "attack" on Natanz and make it seem acceptable.
Then find a reason to call the attack "self-defense" — or better protection for our troops from the EFP's, or single-shot canister bombs.
Claim, without proof and without anyone even taking responsibility for the claim, that the Iranian government at its highest level is supplying deadly weapons to Shiite militias attacking our troops, while not mentioning the fact that Saudi Arabia is helping Sunni insurgents attacking our troops.
Give "protecting our troops" as a reason for attacking Iran without getting new authorization from Congress. Claim that the old authorization for attacking Iraq implied doing "whatever is necessary to protect our troops" from Iranian intervention in Iraq.
Argue that de-escalation in Iraq would "bleed" our troops, "weaken" America, and lead to defeat. This sets up escalation as a winning policy, if not in Iraq then in Iran.
Get the press to go along with each step.
Never mention the words "preventive nuclear war" or "national destruction." When asked, say "All options are on the table." Keep the issue of nuclear war and its consequences from being seriously discussed by the national media.
Intimidate Democratic presidential candidates into agreeing, without using the words, that nuclear war should be "on the table." This makes nuclear war and nation destruction bipartisan and even more acceptable.

Don't Let the GOP get Between Us and an Iran Deal

From a Common Dreams

From a Common Dreams page no longer available.

We can attack Iran, says US commander 20 Oct 2007 America's top military officer said the country does have the resources to attack Iran, despite the strain of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Adm Michael Mullen, who took over as chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff three weeks ago, said diplomacy remained the priority in dealing with Iran's suspected plans to develop a nuclear weapon and its [alleged] support for anti-US 'insurgents' in Iraq. But at a press conference he said: "there is more than enough reserve to respond (militarily) if that, in fact, is what the national leadership wanted to do".

Shifting Targets --The Administration's plan for Iran By Seymour M. Hersh 08 Oct 2007 The revised bombing plan for a possible attack, with its tightened focus on counterterrorism, is gathering support among generals and admirals in the Pentagon. The strategy calls for the use of sea-launched cruise missiles and more precisely targeted ground attacks and bombing strikes, including plans to destroy the most important Revolutionary Guard training camps, supply depots, and command and control facilities. "Cheney's option is now for a fast in and out—for surgical strikes," the former senior American intelligence official told me... A Pentagon consultant on counterterrorism told me that, if the bombing campaign took place, it would be accompanied by a series of what he called "short, sharp incursions" by American Special Forces units into suspected Iranian training sites. He said, "Cheney is devoted to this, no question."

US garners support for strike on Iran 02 Oct 2007 Australia, Britain and Israel have reportedly "expressed interest" in a US campaign to launch surgical bombing raids on Iran targeting Revolutionary Guard Corps facilities. A report in The New Yorker by the journalist Seymour Hersh said the Bush Administration had stopped trying to justify a campaign against Iran on the basis of curtailing Iran's nuclear ambitions. It is instead redefining the war in Iraq as a strategic battle between the US and Iran.

US 'planning surgical Iran strikes' 01 Oct 2007 Australia, Britain and Israel have "expressed interest" in a US campaign to launch "surgical" bombing raids on Iran targetting the Revolutionary Guard Corps facilities, according to one of America's leading investigative reporters, Seymour Hersh.

How Cheney Cooked the Intelligence on Iran

Dick Cheney has been trying to pressure intelligence analysts who have not drunk the neocon kool-aid on Iran to go along with his line on the issues at stake in a National Intelligence Estimate on Iran that the White House has been holding up for more than a year.

Cheney urging strikes on Iran:

(August 9, 2007) At a news conference Thursday, Bush said Iran had been warned of unspecified consequences if it continued its alleged support for anti-American forces in Iraq. U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker had conveyed the warning in meetings with his Iranian counterpart in Baghdad, the president said.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/18834.html

A Preview of Bush's 'Attack Iran' Speech

According to Seymour Hersh, Bush and Cheny have already launched pre-war operations in Iran with money illegally taken from elsewhere, exactly as they began the current war in Iraq over four years ago.

Even more incredibly, Hersh reports Bush and Cheney are funneling the money to Al Qaeda groups - the very terrorists who murdered nearly 3,000 Americans on September 11, whose destruction has allegedly been the ultimate goal of the Bush Administration ever since.

Iran was our ally after 9/11 and helped us drive the Taliban out of Afghanistan. In 2003, Iran sent a letter to Bush through the Swiss ambassador and Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) offering far-reaching compromises on its nuclear program, relations with Hezbollah and Hamas and support for a Palestinian peace agreement with Israel. Yet Cheney rejected the offer and even reprimanded the Swiss ambassador for sending it.

Now Bush is accusing Iran of arming Iraqi insurgents, but evidence to the contrary is piling up. Here's a growing collection of lies about Iran by the White House. And here are simple talking points for opponents of this looming war.

Sign the Petition. This petition has over 99,000 signatures. If you send it to everyone you know, it will top 100,000 this week: http://www.dontattackiran.org

With two aircraft carrier groups in the Persian Gulf, Bush could bomb Iran on a moment's notice. If Bush administration bombs Iran despite our efforts, we will respond. And we will hold Congressmen Dennis Kucinich and John Conyers to their commitments to pursue impeachment if Bush and Cheney attack Iran:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/iranresponse

Daniel Ellsberg, of "Pentagon Papers" fame, told Democracy Now that he believes Bush plans to attack Iran, probably without informing Congress. Ellsberg says a similar escalation happened during the Vietnam War, when the battlefield was extended into Laos and Cambodia. Could this be possible?

The analogy is correct. I think this president is looking to expand the war. His comments about Iran and Syria were not conciliatory. He's rattling the saber at a time when saber-rattling hurts our troops. It's the kind of tough talk that dragged us into this war, the same braggadocio that doesn't pass for statecraft, but shows an administration that's out of control. Here's a president who's putting his foot on the accelerator as the car heads toward the cliff. http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/48535/

Regime Change Is the Reason, Disarmament the Excuse

U.S. Iran Tensions Arise

Second American Aircraft Carrier Heads to Persian Gulf. Interview with Trita Parsi, president of the National Iranian- American Council, conducted by Scott Harris Script summary/Related links

US Sending Third Carrier Strike Group to Persian Gulf
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/021107B.shtml
The Iranians have reason to feel paranoid. At least one former White House official contends that some Bush advisers secretly want an excuse to attack Iran. A second Navy carrier group is steaming toward the Persian Gulf, and a third carrier will likely follow.

Israel seeks all clear for Iran air strike

02/24/07 "The Telegraph" -- -- Israel is negotiating with the United States for permission to fly over Iraq as part of a plan to attack Iran's nuclear facilities, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.

The Coming Attack on Iran

Paul Craig Roberts
The US media is totally unreliable. It cannot go against Israel, and it will wrap itself in the flag just as it did for the invasion of Iraq. The American public has been deceived (again) and believes that Iran is on the verge of possessing nuclear armaments to be used to wipe Israel off the map. http://tinyurl.com/w7xve

Iran

Iran has Reached out to the US many Times, and often been Rebuffed by Washington (9/1/2022)

Trump sought strike on top Iran military figure for political reasons – Esper book (5/6/2022) Guardian

Iran – JCPOA – Joint statement by France, Germany and the United Kingdom (9/20/2020)

Congress, Stop President Trump’s Rush to War With Iran (1/4/2020)

Report: Trump Ordered Iran Strike Because of Impeachment Fears (1/10/2020)

Trump escalates Iran tensions by sanctioning Foreign Minister Javad Zarif (7/31/2019)

Trump and Iran May Be on a Collision Course, and It Could Get Scarier (6/19/2019)

Don't Believe the War Hype on Iran (5/27/2019)

Trump’s Iran Trap (5/21/2019)

Trump Is Being Set-up for War with Iran (5/12/2019)

Trump and Bolton Are Putting War With Iran on a Hair Trigger (5/6/2019)

“Persian Gulf of Tonkin” Ingredients All in Place for US War on Iran? (12/5/2018)

Trump Ready to Bomb Iran Within One Month: Australian Govt Sources (7/27/2018)

Rohani Warns Trump: War With Iran 'Is the Mother of All Wars' (7/22/2018)

The US Withdraws From the Iran Nuclear Deal

Will Bolton and MEK pull an Iraq War-like Chalabi-type Scam on Iran? (4/16/2018)

I Helped Sell the False Choice of War Once. It’s Happening Again : Lawrence Wilkerson (2/5/2018)

EU defends Iran deal despite Trump, appeals to U.S. Congress (10/16/2017)

Iran Doesn't Have a Nuclear Weapons Program. Why Do Media Keep Saying It Does? (10/17/2017)

This October, Trump Will Try to Start a War with Iran. Trump plans to sabotage the nuclear deal. (7/29/2017)

Why the Republican 'Radical Insurgency' Is So Panicked About the Iran Nuclear Deal (9/19/2015)

Seventy National Organizations Implore Congress to Support Iran Agreement (8/27/2015)

UN Security Council unanimously approves Iran deal (July 20, 2015)

How Republicans Responded To The Iran Nuclear Deal: July 14, 2015

Iran’s Nuclear Program and the New York Times (3/25/2015)

In the Middle East, Bet on a Winner (Iran!) (4/12/2015)

Angry Republicans condemn 'alarming' nuclear deal with Iran (4/3/2015)

McCain Suggests Israel "Go Rogue," Blow Up Iran Negotiations By Starting War (3/31/2015)

NYT Publishes Call to Bomb Iran (3/29/2015)

Senate Democrats denounce Republican letter to Iran as call for war (3/10/2015)

GOP Letter to Iran: Breathtaking Attempt to Sabotage U.S. Foreign Policy, Stampede U.S. Into War (3/9/2015)

Meet the Billionaire Funders of the Anti-Diplomacy Lobby (7/18/2014)

How US Policy on Iran Came to Be Based on Fabricated Documents (6/9/2014)

Why Chuck Schumer (et al) Bit The Hook (5/26/2013)

GOP Candidates are wrong to urge a second front war with Iran (1/2012)

Stop War On Iran

Another March to War ? (2/18/2012)