I'm BAAAAAACK...... not that anyone really missed me or particularly cares.
Anyway, with a hearty H/T to Drudge, I'll be discussing BOTUS' latest flap, this time, Iran.
Two days ago, on the eve of House Oversight's issuance of subpoenas to Eric Holder and others now mired in the OBAMA Administration's criminal gunrunning scandal commonly known as Operation Gunrunner - a/k/a Fast & Furious - (Great links here and here), the A.G. rushed to the press to dump a story alleging complicity at the highest levels of the Iranian government in an apparent assassination and bombing conspiracy to be carried out in Washington D.C.
The moment I heard of it, I was deeply skeptical. It seemed to me far too convenient a story to pop when it did. It immediately brought to my mind the Gulf of Tonkin Incident that Lyndon Johnson used to manipulate his way into the war in Vietnam.
The propitious revelation of high level Iranian complicity in the plot, when viewed in the muddy light of the Fast & Furious subpoenas and coming off revelations of extensive White House involvement to push through the foolhardy Solyndra financing loan clearly shows a presidency in its political death throes.
History is replete with examples: governments nostril deep in serious domestic crises have sought to divert the attention of their populations by creating or escalating a foreign crisis, often to the point of war.
Don't get me wrong here, I haven't any doubt that Iran's leaders are anything but vicious opportunists who regularly sponsor, fund and execute terrorist operations and assassinations. The problem for Obama is that historically they have not done it on U.S. soil. For good reason, they know very well that the U.S., unlike the the Europeans and Arabs, has both the will and the means to retaliate forcefully and very destructively. Furthermore, it is my understanding, that Iran's foreign intelligence operators are extremely well-disciplined and frighteningly well trained. Accordingly, Iran has confined its "wet" operations to Europe and the M.E.
At a time when Iran appears to be pushing very hard toward its goal of obtaining nuclear weapons, it seems inconceivable to me, and apparently quite a few others, that Iran's leadership would engage in such an apparently sloppy and risky operation on United States soil. If anything, logic suggests that Iran would want very much to fly well below Washington's radar. We in the West too often forget that it was the Persians who invented Chess.
The New York Times has an excellent piece on this story here.
Ohhh, sorry for the slightly deceptive title.
Iran is one of those rogue states where literally ANYTHING seems plausible. And that's part of the problem with sifting BS from hard fact.
ReplyDeleteOne thing is true and constant. When an administration lies CONTINUALLY about EVERYTHING (classic example is Fast & Furious), it's difficult to credit anything that they put out as genuine.
On LL's point, it strikes me that the very reason to implicate Iran in this is because there is no other country in the world that people would believe would do this except Iran (or maybe North Korea). So if this is fake (and the evidence frankly points that way), then Obama has picked a very likely target and just heaped more blame on them. It is essentially a victimless crime in his eyes.
ReplyDeleteLL: I agree with your statement that anything "seems" possible as regards nefarious Iranian conduct, but there is a vast gulf between the "possible" and the "probable" or even "plausible."
ReplyDeleteWhat the administration alleges in this case is certainly within the realm of possibility, but it seems to me that it is neither plausible or probable for the reasons I noted in my post.
Andrew: Based on my survey of the news, Obama's Iran theme has been met with deep skepticism both here and abroad. It's what happens of course when one thoroughly eviscerates one's own credibility through arrogant incompetence.
ReplyDeleteYou and I know both know the old lawyer maxim that one ought not go into court and present a case that can't pass the snicker test. Obama, never having really practiced law, probably wasn't aware of that folk guidance. Now he just looks ever more the fool.
Thanks for the link LA. (Just returned from holiday.)
ReplyDeleteI'm not buying this either. The Holder DOJ no remaining credibility - it can make any claim, true, false or incomplete - and the result will be the same.
Cheers
More here.
ReplyDeleteExactly, Obama was briefed in June... the timing is extremely suspect
ReplyDeleteCan't be suspicious enough with this crew, seriously