Time After Time

During Obama’s campaign for president he spoke of talking with Iran but once again Obama is stepping to the right echoing Bush-like bellicosity toward Iran. Obama recently made the following statement.

Haaretz

"Iran's development of a nuclear weapon, I believe, is unacceptable and we have to mount an international effort to prevent that from happening," Obama said Friday, in his first press conference as U.S. president-elect.

You might wonder why in the face of evidence that Iran is not pursuing a nuclear weapon Obama chooses to ignore this fact.

Wikipedia

In December 2007, the United States National Intelligence Estimate (that represents the consensus view of all 16 American intelligence agencies) concluded, with a "high level of confidence”, that Iran had halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and "with moderate confidence" that the program remains frozen as of mid-2007. The new estimate says that the enrichment program could still provide Iran with enough raw material to produce a nuclear weapon sometime by the middle of next decade but that intelligence agencies “do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons” at some future date.[36][37] Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said 70 percent of the U.S. report was "true and positive," but denied its allegations of Iran having had a nuclear weapons program before 2003. Russia has said there was no proof Iran has ever run a nuclear weapons program.[38] The head of the IAEA, Mohamed ElBaradei, has stated that he has seen "maybe some studies about possible weaponization", but "no evidence" of "an active weaponization program" as of October 2007.[7]

But will this shake up the faithful? I doubt it very much. While the faithful roll on the floor in ecstasy gibbering in tongues and frothing at the mouth over the election of a Black man reality rolls on its grim course toward more war with the “peace candidate” Obama making war whoops and leading the way. But don’t be surprised if Bush initiates a war with Iran before Obama is sworn into office. Despite the consensus of all 16 American intelligence agencies that Iran halted its nuclear weapon program in 2003 Obama insists they are pursuing a nuclear weapon. I would hazard a guess that what we see unfolding is that the Democratic Party wishes to prove once and for all that they are as strong on “defense” (for defense read war) as the Republican Party because they want to stay in power. As usual the wishes of the masses are completely disregarded and thrown out with the wash along with truth. But above all else the Democrats believe in America's right to lord it over the rest of the planet, this is the one overarching element of Obama's makeup that will make his presidency a continuation of the nightmare we have been living in for the last eight years.

The New York Times reports that under Secret Orders the U.S. has been carrying out secret previously undisclosed attacks in as many as 15 to 20 different nations including Pakistan, Syria, and Somalia but there is no mention of the American Death Squads that come in after whatever murderous attack, which usually results in the killing innocent women and children, to murder anyone left alive. Kudos to the New York Times who as usual leaves out major details like death squads.

Chris Floyd

The brutal conflict in Somalia – which has seen the U.S. bombing of fleeing civilians, "renditions" of innocent refugees to Ethiopia's torture dens, the usual "collateral damage" from botched "targeted assassinations" by American forces and the cheerfully admitted use of American death squads to "mop up" after covert ops – has been almost entirely ignored by the U.S. media and political establishments. [For copious links to these and other aspects of the U.S. involvement in Somalia, see Willing Executioners: America's Bipartisan Atrocity Deepens in Somalia.] It has not figured in the U.S. presidential contest at all; neither John McCain nor Barack Obama is in the least bit troubled by this killing spree on the imperial frontier.

These broad and not so secret powers are what Obama will be in charge of taking up where Bush left off, indeed, the Obama presidency is quite likely to be George Bush Act II. But all the faithful can proclaim is “Thank God Obama is here.” Just what will it take for the faithful to see what Obama is? When wars rage in Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, and Somalia while the nation goes deeper into debt and financial recession and Martial Law has been declared? Perhaps not even then. As the hammer of tyranny falls on their heads no doubt they will continue to bleat and mewl over their Sainted Savior. Unrelentingly and time after time Obama has made the wrong decisions from FISA to appointing Rahm Emanuel as Chief of Staff and still the faithful continue to make excuses and apologies for their fast talking con man President-elect Obama.