“From inside the White House, Leverett was hearing a scary scenario: The Russians were scheduled to ship fuel rods to the Iranian nuclear reactor in Bushehr, which meant the reactor would become operational by this November, at which point it would be impossible to bomb — the fallout alone would turn the city into an urban Chernobyl. The White House was seriously considering a preemptive attack when the Russians cooled things down by saying Iran hadn’t paid its bills, so they would hold back the Bushehr fuel rods for a while.
That put things into a summer lull. But by August, tensions were rising again. U.S. troops in Baghdad arrested an official delegation of Iranian energy experts, leading them out of a hotel in blindfolds and handcuffs. Then Iran said that it had paid its bills and that the Russians were ready to deliver the Bushehr shipment. In Time magazine, former CIA officer and author Robert Baer quoted a highly placed White House official:
“IEDs are a casus belli for this administration. There will be an attack on Iran.”
Mann steps back out on the deck and starts collecting the scattered toys to prepare the house for a dinner party, the typical modern American mother multitasking her way through a busy day. “The reason I have to be so careful now is that I’m legally on notice and they will prosecute things that I say or do,” she says, picking up a plastic truck.
“Because of that one article?”
“Yeah.”
Outside, it’s getting warmer. There’s a heavy haze and floating bugs and for a moment it feels a bit ominous, a gathering silence, one of those moments when giant pods start to sprout in local basements.
“We’re tired,” Mann says. “Nobody listens.”
It seems inconceivable to her that once again a war could be coming, and once again no one is listening. Another pair of lawn mowers joins the chorus and the spell breaks. A cab pulls in the driveway. The caterer comes to prepare for the dinner guests.”
Comment:
Of course, we’ve always known that some hawks have wanted to take control of the Middle East and make a broad sided attack on the Muslim world as such.
It’s been in the works since the 1970s when British intelligence wanted the US and UK to go in and grab the Saudi oil fields. And since the 1950s, when, post WW II, realists like George Kennan famously recognized the need for western governments to stop wearing the mask of nice guy and secure their hold over world resources before the rest of the world demanded more for itself.
But it’s nice to have this insider view of the story…..