The first two or three months of 2007 represent a dangerous opening for an escalation of war in the Middle East, as George W. Bush will be tempted to "double-down" his gamble in Iraq by joining with Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair to strike at Syria and Iran, intelligence sources say.
President Bush's goal would be to transcend the bloody quagmire bogging down U.S. forces in Iraq by achieving "regime change" in Syria and by destroying nuclear facilities in Iran, two blows intended to weaken Islamic militants in Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.
The Israeli army and air force would carry the brunt of any new fighting albeit with the support of beefed-up U.S. ground and naval forces in the Middle East, the sources said. Bush is now considering a "surge" in U.S. troop levels in Iraq from about 140,000 to as many as 170,000. He also has dispatched a second aircraft carrier group to the coast of Iran.
Friday, December 22, 2006
Will the New Year See an Escalation of War in the Middle East?
Robert Parry at Consortium News has written a foreboding essay entitled "A Very Dangerous New Year." Here are the opening paragraphs:
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2 comments:
I can't see where Bush will get that many more soliders and marines, unless he starts the draft again. If he starts the draft that will take all three of my grandsons. Maybe even my granddaugthers too. The American people should revolt if they start discussing a draft.
There will be no draft. It would be political suicide for Republicans.
That is the seachange in America's opinion of warfare. Until Vietnam, the President could start any ridiculous war they wanted and draft a ton of manpower. There would be protests, but not enough to stop them.
Wont happen today. If it would, it would have happened already. The neocons whole game plan is that advanced technology lets us fights two wars with a downsized army.
That's not working and the war is already politically unsustainable. You institute a draft and you have a revolt against the GOP in '08.
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