(guest blogged by Bill W.)
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CSpan’s Washington Journal had Flynt Leverett on to discuss his latest article in Esquire Magazine ” The Secret History of the Impending War with Iran That the White House Doesn’t Want You to Know“
In the years after 9/11, Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann worked at the highest levels of the Bush administration as Middle East policy experts for the National Security Council. Mann conducted secret negotiations with Iran. Leverett traveled with Colin Powell and advised Condoleezza Rice. They each played crucial roles in formulating policy for the region leading up to the war in Iraq. But when they left the White House, they left with a growing sense of alarm — not only was the Bush administration headed straight for war with Iran, it had been set on this course for years. That was what people didn’t realize. It was just like Iraq, when the White House was so eager for war it couldn’t wait for the UN inspectors to leave. The steps have been many and steady and all in the same direction. And now things are getting much worse. We are getting closer and closer to the tripline, they say. … (read on)
You may recall Flynt Leverett from when he and his wife Hillary Mann, who co-wrote the now infamous redacted NYT Op-Ed and its corresponding “What We Wanted to Tell You About Iran” which linked to already published sources for all of the redacted info the White House was desperately trying to keep hidden, which Raw Story followed up on with their “The redacted Iran op-ed revealed.” Much of Leverett and Mann’s work helped form the basis for an amazing PBS Frontline Special which aired Tues night, ” Showdown with Iran” which you can watch online. Look for us to be bringing you more on that later here at C&L.
No Trackbacks To “Flynt Leverett on Washington Journal: What the White House Doesn’t Want You To Know About Iran“
Hello Congress….
“If our military leaders are currently preparing plans that are even remotely comparable to what is being called World War III, they should testify before Congress….”
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2007/102307a.html
I probably shouldn’t have called it “his latest article” as it’s about him and his wife not by him, but, well, you get the point. I do make mistakes sometimes. It’s stll a great article which i hope everyone does go check out.
What the White House Doesn’t Want You To Know About Iran: “Anything”.
Very informative. Thanks for the post.
Hitler would have done the same thing
Mann and Leverett are interviewed in this months esquire also its a pretty good article
Someone in congress needs to draft a bill granting immunity to anyone leaking vital information about the Bush administration and any plans they have to wage war.
Then they need to draft a bill granting immunity to anyone … [deleted–do not even imply violence against an elected official on this site]
Loonie @ 3:
Exactly. The sad thing is how few if any in this country do know anything about Iran. Most people think the Iranian Revolution and the Hostage crisis was a failure of Jimmy Carter, not the result of the US’ overthrow of a progressive secular democracy over oil and the installation of a US puppet dictator whose CIA trained secret police tortured and killed all opposition for 25 years.
There’s a reason they don’t like us, and if another country did it to us, we wouldn’t like them either.
alex @ 6:
Um, that’s what this post is all about. I’m just sayin’. ;)
I have a question: This is not my wheelhouse, so I’m probably over-simplifying it.
Why can’t the international community develop an independent agency to administer and store enriched uranium for countries wanting to develop nuclear power? It seems that if there were full-time, on-site, administrators that most concern for misusing the uranium could be put to rest. In essence the country would own the nuclear power facilities; but the agency would own the uranium.
U.S. Requests Bunker-Buster Bombs
Reported October 24, 2007
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics.....amp;page=1
The Nuclear Bunker Buster: ANIMATION of the effect by Union of Concerned Scientists based on Pentagon info: WATCH THIS (2 min)
http://www.ucsusa.org/global_s.....ation.html
These bastards are going to do it.
Their Esquire article should be required reading for every US citizen and resident.
Scottt Ritter on Iran
“On The Eve Of Destruction
By Scott Ritter
10-22-7
Don’t worry, the White House is telling us. The world’s most powerful leader was simply making a rhetorical point. At a White House press conference last week…….”
http://www.rense.com/general78/eved.htm
Iran has always been the end game in the Middle East.
WE ARE A NATION OF WAR CRIMINALS
I want to open my front door and scream “NOT IN MY NAME!!!”
Thanks for linking to this article.
PurplePatriot @ 10:
A great solution that the US would never agree to.
Nor would the rest of the world as long as they rightly perceive the US as a threat.
We need a leader that represents strength through peace.
Kucinich 08
Amen to Kucinich.
We’re f@cked.
President Bush’s disturbingly flip comment last Wednesday about Iran and World War III not only revealed his apparent comfort when discussing global conflagration. Bush’s gaffe also showed the common vision between himself, the man most likely to succeed him as head of the Republican Party and those who advise them both. For George Bush, Rudy Giuliani and the likes of Norman Podhoretz, the only dispute about “world war” is whether we’re already fighting it and what number we’re on.
For the details, see:
“Bush and Giuliani on the Next World War.”
nwmuse @ 16:
Well, …
You know who said that? You’d probably be surprised.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUiNiB2yVCQ
:lol:
Closed doors to diplomacy, or anything that would show potential for historic events that may have been able to give Bush a legacy among the ranks of Reagan for tearing down the wall. Actual compliance from Iran. Instead, our minds are made, there is no other route.
Escalating language in speeches, repitition, and finally action. The woman that had her hands painted red was not simply implying millions of Iraqi’s, this was premonitious to the millions that would be affected by the carelessness of American leaders trying to destroy something they may not even be able to effectively destroy. What ever happened to risk analysis? World War III is only being pushed by one administration, everybody else is just biding their time to make their move. We won’t even realize what hit us until it’s too late.
People realized all right! I realized and many of the other people who frequent this blog and the many other blogs have been saying it for years. The problem is that Joe Sixpack and Betty Winebox don’t want to listen or they want to believe the O’Reillys and Hannitys and the Becks and the Limpdicks of the world. When the shit hits the fan it’s “tough shit” for the “Sixpacks” and the “Wineboxes” of the country. We told you so idiots. I’m armed and ready. Are you with me or against me?
I meant to put the quote in there:
“The Bush administration headed straight for war with Iran, it had been set on this course for years. That was what people didn’t realize. It was just like Iraq, when the White House was so eager for war it couldn’t wait for the UN inspectors to leave. The steps have been many and steady and all in the same direction. And now things are getting much worse. We are getting closer and closer to the tripline, they say”
People realized all right! I realized and many of the other people who frequent this blog and the many other blogs have been saying it for years. The problem is that Joe Sixpack and Betty Winebox don’t want to listen or they want to believe the O’Reillys and Hannitys and the Becks and the Limpdicks of the world. When the shit hits the fan it’s “tough shit” for the “Sixpacks” and the “Wineboxes” of the country. We told you so idiots. I’m armed and ready.
So you’ve got hard liners in the US administration with heroic view of history making using Iranian nukes as political resource. Then you have hard liners in Iran playing the Sadam rope-a-dope, practically asking for “surgical” bombing to achieve political advantage that can be parlayed for years to come. The real bad news for all the innocents that get caught up in collateral.
Bombing of facilities years from achieving results will only prove falsely that Iran had the immediate potential having nukes. As to state sponsored terrorism and supply of arms to terrorists, US probably has the worst record in such supply and also in suffering blowback with the use of same. What was Iran Contra about?
Hey Flynt, thanks for the heads up 4+ years too late.
Turk Meister @ 25:
What! We went to war w/ Iran 4 years ago? I thought when he and his wife came out against this administration’s plans to go to war with Iran last year it was still well before we went to war with them.
Did I just sleep through that? What year is this?
What, Flynt resigned in March 2003 because of differences he had with the administration about Iraq and then proceeded to voice his concerns in public and out loud to anyone who would listen? Oh, I must have slept through that since this is the first time I’ve ever heard of him.
The clown playing President is in for a rude ending.
I hope the next president hires Flynt Leverett
This is a “letter to the editor” that I sent yesterday to the New York Times.
I don’t think that they will publish it, but I’d lke you to see it, and I would be interested in whatever comments you might have.
Recently, the Vice President went on television to let it be known that he is serious about military action against Iran. The President also appeared on television to announce that the world community must place greater pressure on Iran in order to prevent Iran from as much as having the knowledge or capability to build nuclear weapons. This he said, was necessary in order to avoid World War III.
Meanwhile, Turkey is preparing to send it’s troops into Northern Iraq to PKK assaults on its territory. The US is in no position to oppose Turkey in attacking Kurdish “terrorists” based in Iraq, but the Kurds are America’s only reliable ally in Iraq. President Putin recently visited Tehran to express his support and respect for Iran’s sovereignty.
Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney have each announed their determination to extend the war into Iran, possibly igniting a Third World War in the Middle East.
Unless you are foolish enough to believe that such a war is necessary and would have a purgative effect, you understand that such a war would inevitably be catastrophic, and must be avoided at all costs.
If Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney are determined to enlarge their present illegitimate war, if they are contemplating an attack on Iran, or the use of nuclear weapons in such a war, they must be removed from office as quickly as possible. They represent a threat to the United States, to the rest of the world, and to our future generations.
Impeachment must be placed back on the table. The stakes are too high. Life and death.
Dennis Kucinich has presented a Bill of Impeachment against Vice President Cheney.
It certainly deserves more attention than it has been getting. And certainly, a Bill of Impeachment for George W.Bush should long ago have been presented in Congress if the US were a functional democracy. To survive it may have to actually become one.
IMPEACH BUSH…..NOW!!!
tjb @ 5:
Paint a little mustache on Bush and….
Turk Meister @ 27:
I hope people don’t think you are being snarky by your “I must have slept through that” because Dr Leverett did resign in March of 2003 in opposition the Bush’s policies in the middle east. since he and his wife’s area of expertise was dealing with Iran, he has became the most credible critic of the Bush admin ever since it became apparent they were seriously considering attacking them.
It’s simple. Have all the American people you can get to write to the current administration and FORBID them declare war on Iran on pain of death. And if they refuse…take them out bodily and imprison them. If they refuse…
What Washington doesn’t want you to know about ________________ (fill in the blank), you probably will never find out.
Consider this: the last time you bought a car or a major appliance, you probably checked out several models each from several different manufacturers - what features they had, how long the warranty was, how well made they were. If you were smart, you visited some consumer sites or purchased reviewer magazines. You did the research before you laid out your hard-earned money.
Goddamn it, I wish people would put the same kind of effort into where their vote goes. The #1 determining factor of who gets in is still how much money is spent on the campaign, leading very quickly to the #2 factor, name recognition. How pathetic is that? “I voted for this guy because I’ve heard his name more often than the other guy’s name.”
Let’s apply some of those fine-tuned consumer skillz to politics, shall we?
SadButTrue @ 35:
Hon, many many people just buy the car they see on TV the most–it’s why auto makers keep spending money making commercials. You know that.
I get what you are saying, and yeah, I researched the hell out of my last auto purchase, as I do each and every vote. But then again, I don’t watch TV…
;)
justabill @ 33:
My point is that I never heard him speak out against the attack on Iraq even though he knew it was coming and disagreed with the adiministration so much so that he resigned in apparent protest. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate his efforts to prevent a similar crime as it relates to Iran it’s just that no insiders spoke out about Iraq when it might have done some good.
Turk Meister @ 37:
You need to check out Leverett and Mann’s redacted op-ed in the NYT from December 22, 2006. They’ve been trying to “speak out” about the administration’s Iran-baiting (their area of expertise, not Iraq) for a while now, but they’re not being allowed to speak freely, which might explain why this is the first time you’ve heard of him.
I, for one, salute Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann as true heroes for their courage, fortitude and persistence. And thanks to C & L for being on top of this story– the Esquire piece is a very, very chilling portrait of how this administration operates and the tremendously stupid, callous things that are being said and done in the name of the American people.
Not sure I want to be neighbors with the US anymore. What’s with all the hypocrisy? Now that Peak Oil is grabbing everyone’s attention, the geo-political maneuvering for the ‘last oil’ will increase. China has already allied with Russia for eastern oil, has aligned itself militarily, and is looking hard at the Caspian sea for the remnants of oil. The US is just protecting what it believes to be ‘their’ supply in the mid. east.
It’s not about nuclear, never was with Iraq either. It’s about making sure that you have the last bits of oil to grease the wheels of your military in order to keep protecting the economy. In today’s world, it’s not mlitary might that wins wars, it’s economic might. As seen in Iraq, which will last decades and still never be won, the US is stuck in a quagmire in order to wrestled control of the the last drops. The US knows without being the most powerful economy, her status as a super power will diminish rapidly. You need the oil, and your national guard, not roughnecks, will secure the supply.
Turk Meister @ 37:
1) You can’t speak out and keep your job when you serve at the pleasure of the President, especially this President. Yes he could have spoken out before Iraq, although as an Iranian policy advisor I’m not sure what he really knew about Bushco’s plans involving Iraq. You are making one hell of an assumption that he did.
2)By your (il)logic, everyone who disagreed with Bush should have quit and spoken out. While it MIGHT seem admirable I think that would only have exasperated the problem considerably by ensuring that there were no sane voices or opinions in Bush’s cabinet, only sycophant dittoheads. None of the others who have quit and spoken out (Richard Clarke comes to mind) made crap of a difference to Bushco. They just attacked them and went right on with their PNAC plans anyway.
3)Flynt sounds like he was that sorely needed sane voice, and he quit (or was pushed out? We don’t know, but it coincided with the invasion of Iraq) when his advice was not listened to. He then immediately began speaking out, joining the Brookings institute and going on shows like Democracy Now.
right on time: