We have to date found no evidence of ongoing prohibited nuclear or nuclear related activities in Iraq.
--Mohammed ElBaradei, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Feb. 14, 2003
We haven't received any information there is a parallel, ongoing, active nuclear weapon program [in Iran].
--Mohammed ElBaradei, Oct. 28, 2007
Almost every day, you see some story about leaked plans for attacking, invading, or nuking Iran. The latest comes from Esquire Magazine and a story titled, "The Secret History of the Impending War with Iran That the White House Doesn't Want You to Know." In that story, two White Housers warn that Bush/Cheney -- and mostly Cheney -- want war with Iran. There's some pushback from the State Department, but war is inevitable.
Here's the thing; everything out of the White House needs to be taken with a grain of salt. For something "The White House Doesn't Want You to Know," we sure seem to know one helluva lot about how much Bushies want war with Iran. How much of this is actual whistleblowing and how many of these "leaks" are meant for Iran? Is the White House trying to play good cop/bad cop with Iran, casting Condoleezza Rice as the good cop and Dick Cheney, suffering from the quiet malady of neocon madness, as the bad cop?
The "we're about to attack Iran!" story's been going strong since at least October of 2006, when the USS Eisenhower was sent to the Persian Gulf. "This build-up of naval power around the coast of Iran, according to some military sources, is in preparation for an air attack on Iran that would target not just Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities, but its entire military command and control system," wrote Dave Lindorff at the time.
From what we know about the Bush White House, the idea of cooler heads prevailing seems unlikely for a lot of reasons -- most obvious is that history has proven that there aren't any cool-headed people in this administration. Rice's predecessor, Colin Powell, was pushed out for not being a team player and now Rice is a dissenting voice? Not likely...
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