Thursday, January 20, 2005

Attacking Iran? What are Americans saying?

This New Yorker Magazine's article-by Mr. Hersh- is creating a lot more discussion that many had anticipated.
Dr. Rice's confirmation hearing demonstrates how effective this article has been, Senators Boxer, Joseph Bidan and John Kerry, picked up on it and kept asking her about it, she of course had no straight answer. Add to that Dick Cheney's interview with MSNBC today. Washington Monthly web log also was worried about the transfer of covert operation from CIA to Pentagon and how Pentagon doesn't have to be accountable to the congress the way CIA is, and basically there is a growing trend of more power for Executive branch of government in US and less accountability. I expressed my concern on behalf of many Iranians who are worried about the prospect of "expanding the war on terror" and operations against Iran, in the comment section. And I was rather surprised to see how many Americans left messages on the comment section of Washington Monthly talking about their feelings toward the Bush' hidden agenda- not so hidden any more-.You can read their opinions here and see how many Americans also disagree and worry about the consequences of this new madness promoted by neo-conservatives like Michael Ladean, Paul Wolfowitz ...., so it was a heart warming experience to see that so many Americans are equally worried and aware of the situation. And below you can see John Kerry's exchange with Rice about this article and Iran:

Later in the hearing, Kerry brought up Hersh's article again. Rice,citing the Defense Department's public statement about the piece, said the article was "inaccurate." Kerry asked, "About Iran?" Rice replied,"It is inaccurate." Kerry repeated, "About Iran?" This exchange was repeated a few times. Finally, Rice said that hitting Iran with air strikes was not U.S. policy. Kerry let it go. But it's worth pointing out that Hersh didn't claim it was policy, only that the top civilians in the Pentagon were pushing for it to be policy.