Be Afraid

The rumors have flown for years, the deployment of two carrier groups to the area have fueled the speculation, but I think most people didn't really believe that BushCo. would attack Iran.

But the rumors have not died down. The carrier groups remain in the Persian Gulf.

In yesterday's post at Altercation, Eric Alterman linked to a series of articles by William R. Polk, an author who "was the member of the U.S. Policy Planning Council responsible for the Middle East from 1961 to 1965. Subsequently, he was professor of history and director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Chicago and later president of the Adlai Stevenson Institute of International Affairs."

See the articles here, here and here.

Polk has laid out the background, current status and the ideas and ideology driving this idiocy. His arguments seem cogent and well informed and he certainly has the CV to back his claim to expertise.

What is most chilling is the final section of the third article where he describes the probable fallout of an attack on Iran. There are chilling echoes of the current debacle in Iraq with the potential for a much worse outcome.

Please read these articles, please talk about them, please write or call your members of congress to let them know how much this scares you.