Leaker in Chief is Readying to Hit Iran?

Leaker in Chief is Readying to Hit Iran? (and other stories)

Iran is next?

Court papers filed late Wednesday by Special Prosecutor
Patrick Fitzgerald quote Libby as telling a grand jury that Bush, via Cheney,
authorized him to reveal the key judgments of a National Intelligence Estimate
on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction to New York Times reporter Judith Miller.
The president and vice president have virtually unlimited legal authority
to declassify government secrets.

The authorized leak, in July 2003, came two days after
former Ambassador Joseph Wilson wrote an article in The New York Times charging
that the White House had manipulated intelligence on Iraq's alleged quest
for uranium ore from Africa to make its case for war.

Libby
testimony shows a White House pattern of intelligence leaks

First, if you haven't already, you really need to check out Kerry
on MSNBC. He's also going to be on “Meet the Press” tomorrow morning
talking about his Iraqi
ultimatum. Everybody has been so shy to demand the Iraqis get their act
together. No timeline! No timeline! Everyone is shouting in unison that we can't
push the Iraqis. Why not? We've invested enough lives and treasure in the Iraq
desert, which continues with the long-term bases we've built. Enough. Anyway,
if you can, catch Kerry tomorrow.

Another interesting tidbit is that Joe Biden is getting another
early look from people. I know, I know, you don't like him. Well, take a look
at this Kos diary
and read some of the comments. After his appearance last night on “Real
Time” with Bill Maher, Biden won over some people. It seems gravitas and
real intellect is less bothersome after the bumbling buffoon now at 1600 Pennsylvania
Avenue. I'd like to hear your thoughts. I'll repeat something I think is good
for Biden and Democrats.

“The Democrats' point man
on national security.”
– Chris Wallace, Fox News Sunday (2.26.06), introducing Senator Joe Biden.

It shouldn't be taken lightly, though we all know it's way too
early.

Joe
Gandelman has a great piece about Bush's credibility being sledge hammered,
emphasis added below:

It seems George Bush may have now truly
reached the national “tipping point.” Too much video and audio is
in existence that documents what he previously said in public — and
how it's seemingly at variance with what appears to have been done behind-the-scenes.
Americans often put up with rogue-ish politicos who don't always level with
them but there's a certain point where it crosses the line. Are we at that
point now?

With polls showing Bush's job approval ratings going
down so far that any minute he'll gush oil, this administration is now facing
a credibility crisis perhaps unparalleled in American political history.

Credibility problems are usually associated with one
or two key issues: Lyndon Johnson had Vietnam; Richard Nixon had Watergate;
Bill Clinton had Monica Lewinsky (or was it the other way around?). But seldom
have Americans experienced an administration that seems to suffer a credibility
crisis of the month (or week) on so many fronts.

Some supporters call it a wartime administration, or
an anti-terrorism administration.

But more accurately it's the “it all depends
on what 'is' is” administration … …

Chris Bowers has a very important post up about Joe
Sestak, who is taking on Crazy Curt, as in Curt Weldon. There are lots of
other Democratic candidates to support, so jump over and show
them some love.

Steve Gilliard has a provocatively important post on race over at Firedoglake,
but one of Jane's comments caught my attention.

Thanks so much, Steve, great post. Your exploration
of the GOP’s need to keep its online image racist-free is very interesting.
I used to think right wing bloggers had no commenters because they were top-down
and didn’t like their audience speaking back to them, but having spent
more time than I want to over at right wing blogs who do allow comments I
think it has just as much to do with the fact that this is their audience
and they don’t want to be answerable for them. They can freely engage
in dog-whistle language without being responsible for the dogs that show up
on their doorsteps. - Jane Hamsher (comment #14)

But in the end, the story always comes back to our Leaker in Chief. Steve
Clemons comments, but his post
on Iraq made me want to scream.

But the biggest new story comes from Seymour
Hersh. Next stop: Iran?

The Bush Administration, while publicly advocating
diplomacy in order to stop Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon, has increased
clandestine activities inside Iran and intensified planning for a possible
major air attack. Current and former American military and intelligence officials
said that Air Force planning groups are drawing up lists of targets, and teams
of American combat troops have been ordered into Iran, under cover, to collect
targeting data and to establish contact with anti-government ethnic-minority
groups. The officials say that President Bush is determined to deny the Iranian
regime the opportunity to begin a pilot program, planned for this spring,
to enrich uranium.

(snip)

There is a growing conviction among members of the
United States military, and in the international community, that President
Bush’s ultimate goal in the nuclear confrontation with Iran is regime
change. Iran’s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has challenged the reality
of the Holocaust and said that Israel must be “wiped off the map.”
Bush and others in the White House view him as a potential Adolf Hitler, a
former senior intelligence official said. “That’s the name they’re
using. They say, ‘Will Iran get a strategic weapon and threaten another
world war?’ “

Our Leaker in Chief may have no credibility left, but his chutzpah
remains intact, armed and loaded for bear. Now can we censure him? Because nothing short of bringing him to account, making him realize he's not king, will stop this megalomaniac from moving from Iraq to Iran.