Scott Ritter on the U.S. war with Iran

Iran? Is Scott smoking something? Doesn't he mean Iraq?

Nope, read the article, he very clearly means the U.S. war with Iran. But, then, war with Iran was telegraphed by the Neocons over 10 years ago when they called for a war to reshape the middle east, starting with Iraq and then moving on to either Syria or Iran. For the U.S. to attack Iran would simply be to follow through with the plan.

US war with Iran has already begun (By Scott Ritter, June 23, 2005, aljazeera.net) And, yes, to make this richer, he is writing for Al Jazeera.

Here's the way he reads it ...

Leading up to the Iraq war the U.S. conducted various military operations inside Iraq beginning well over a year prior to the invasion. Specifically in 16 October 2002, President Bush told the American people that "I have not ordered the use of force. I hope that the use of force will not become necessary." But that was yet another lie, because he had already signed such orders, and military operations were already underway in Iraq.

He goes on to claim that

1. The U.S. military are sending spy aircraft over Iran on a regular schedule.
2. The U.S. is working with the Mujahadeen el-Khalq to run CIA-backed operations inside Iran.
3. MEK is an Terrorism organization officially labeled as such by the U.S. State Department, and for U.S. officials to work with an known Terrorist organization goes against everything this war is supposedly about.
4. The U.S. is working with Azerbaijan to operate "forward bases" that can be used to stage supplies and troops to enter Iran. Also, in the immediate term, those forward bases act as CIA-sponsored training grounds to work with the Azeri of Northern Iran to infiltrate and set up geurilla units inside Iran.
5. The U.S. of course already has extensive materiel located nearby (Iraq, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, etc) to apply to Iran should open hostilities begin.
6. The combination gives a very different invasion strategy than had been considered before. Instead of landing at some towns along Iran's southern coast, they would invade from the North in Azerbaijan and have a relatively short route to reach Tehran.