Bush's Iran war plans.

• Author: Rothschild, Matthew
• Position: Comment

If you don't think Bush is planning on bombing Iran, well, then, you're not paying attention. First, Bush put Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on the terrorism list. Then, on August 28 at the American Legion convention, Bush blew his bellicose bugle.

Calling Iran "the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism," he enumerated a list of troubles Tehran is making, from funding Hezbollah and Hamas to "sending arms to the Taliban in Afghanistan." The latter is an odd one, since Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Afghan President Hamid Karzai are on record denying that there is evidence that the Iranian government is involved in this.

But as in the propaganda offensive that preceded the Iraq War, Bush doesn't care whether what he says is true. He just cares that it is effective.

And just as he talked about a smoking gun turning into a mushroom cloud in the Iraq context, he is now bandying about more nuclear nightmares. "Iran's active pursuit of technology that could lead to nuclear weapons threatens to put a region already known for instability and violence under the shadow of a nuclear holocaust," Bush said.

Iran, however, is several years away from obtaining a nuclear weapon, by the CIA's own estimation. It is the Bush Administration itself that has contingencies to use nuclear weapons against Iran, according to Seymour Hersh of The New Yorker . And when Iran in late August slowed its uranium enrichment and agreed to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Bush Administration dismissed the progress.

At the American Legion, Bush also denounced Iranian meddling in Iraq. Iran's leaders, he said, "cannot escape responsibility for aiding attacks against coalition forces and the murder of innocent Iraqis. The Iranian regime must halt these actions," he said. "And until it does, I will take actions necessary to protect troops. I have authorized our military commanders in Iraq to confront Tehran's murderous activities."

Bush failed to mention that Saudi Arabia, not Iran, is the leading supplier of foreign fighters in Iraq. No, that would not help his case. And it would complicate U.S. ties with the kingdom. So hush, hush about that.

Instead, hype the Iranian threat.

Bush's language was unmistakable: "Iran's actions threaten the security of nations everywhere. . . . We will confront this danger before it is too late."

H e's got the war plans ready. A recent study by two British arms experts shows the magnitude of the...