It’s Just a Shot Away
I look forward to Seymour Hersh’s updates on the run up to war with Iran in the New Yorker about as much as a kid who knows he’s getting coals in his stocking looks forward to Christmas, but I read them anyway. With each successive report, it becomes clear that the administration is moving ever closer towards open war against Tehran. (The covert one has been going on for some time now.)
Most troubling of all is this revelation, which came shortly after the Gulf incident in which Iranian boats supposedly threatened navy ships.
“The public had supported the idea of retaliation, and was even asking why the U.S. didn’t do more. The former official said that, a few weeks later, a meeting took place in the Vice-President’s office. “The subject was how to create a casus belli between Tehran and Washington,” he said…”
You can read the whole thing here.
I have suspected for some time that the Bush administration has one more trick up its sleeve, that they will commit one more unthinkable act of recklessness before leaving office. It has been obvious that Bush and Cheney are willing to leave the problem of Iraq and Afghanistan to the next President, but now it seems they will burden the next leader of the free world with yet another war.
Last night I was playing Rock Band with some friends and I struggled with the vocals for the Rolling Stone’s Gimme Shelter. My voice strained then cracked when I tried to reach the notes in the chorus.
“War, children, it’s just a shot away. It’s just a shot away!”
Maybe we’re all suffering from the same symptom. I’m certain that there are millions of you out there who can hit the right pitch and get a higher score than I can, but how many of us are really willing to entertain the thought, how many can really find their voice and admit how close we are to another escalation of war?
Today I’m chewing ice chips to sooth my throat after a night of cheap beer and mediocre song scores. Should the administration choose to attack Iran, the war on terror will truly begin, and we’re going to need a hell of a lot more than ice cubes to soothe the wounds that will be forthcoming.
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