Stop Bush's Next War

FRIDAY, MAY 19, 2006,   BENNINGTON (VT) BANNER EDITORIAL    By Andrew Schoerke

While President Bush insists that he is pursuing diplomacy to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability, he states that all options, including military force, are still on the table. In the April 17th issue of The New Yorker magazine, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Seymour Hersh published an article describing reported clandestine teams of U.S. combat troops operating in Iran. His sources report that these covert operations include target identification, target confirmation, and target marking. They also report the teams are working with anti-government ethnic groups such Baluchis, Kurds and Azeris to promote opposition and undermine the regime. The Azeris are significant since their homeland is shared with neighboring Azerbaijan whose airfields, according to Scott Ritter, former UN Arms Inspector in Iraq, are being prepared by U.S. military for massive operations.

While the reports of covert U.S. military activity in Iran are alarming, reports of Pentagon operational planning for a major attack are flat out scary. While the administration is, of course, not going to acknowledge any of Mr.Hersh's assertions, there is evidence which indicates operational orders have been issued. When I consider the evidence found on open sources from the perspective of my 23 years of experience as a naval officer, it indicates to me that something big is afoot.

In addition to the operations within Iran, there are reports of Navy carrier based aircraft conducting simulated nuclear weapons delivery maneuvers within range of Iranian radar sites.

As we saw prior to the attack on Iraq, this tactic was used to test the response and reaction of enemy radar warning systems and associated command, control and communications networks. Further, published sources report that the amphibious transport dock Trenton, used to support Marine landings; the guided missile cruiser USS Hue; and guided missile destroyer James E. Williams, both carrying surface-to-surface Tomahawk missiles, left their home ports in April on an unscheduled global war On terror "surge deployment."

The aircraft carrier George Washington, together with its strike group, left Norfolk in early May for the Caribbean to "conduct training exercises." Almost simultaneously, the aircraft carrier Enterprise deployed with its strike group to relieve the Abraham Lincoln currently on station in the Indian Ocean. On the West Coast, similar activity is occurring. Less noticeable than the carriers, though perhaps more significant, is the deployment of the Naval Hospital Ship Mercy. The Mercy departed San Diego April 24 on a "five month humanitarian mission" to Pacific Island nations, Southeast Asia and South Asia. It was her sister ship, USNS Comfort, that served as an offshore trauma center during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Finally, as I pointed out in my April 21 op-ed, "Bunker Buster" nuclear weapons remain the only sure way of destroying Iranian underground nuclear facilities at Natanz.

Currently, the Bush administration's diplomatic strategy is to press for an enforceable UN Security Council resolution demanding that Iran halt its nuclear program. It would include sanctions as well as military action to force compliance. If the resolution fails, the window to war will be opened.

Comparing the deployment of ships involved in the March 20, 2003 "shock and awe" attack with those described above, it seems certain that President Bush will have to decide whether or not to attack Iran before October. Central to his decision making will be his assessment of whether or not he will lose control of one or both houses of Congress in the November elections.

One of the sources interviewed by Seymour Hersh in his article quotes President Bush as believing he must do "what no Democrat or Republican, if elected in the future, would have the courage to do," and that "saving Iran is going to be his legacy." The stakes in military and civilian lives, the stability of the Middle East, the world economy and the preservation of our Republic are far too high to let him attack Iran. Citizens, veterans stop Bush's next war now.