I am passing this on, despite the fact that I doubt the story very much. Madsen is a usually reliable investigative journalist. I discount the likelihood in this case for many reasons, given below. Still, the mere possibility that it's true means we must pay attention.
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www.globalresearch.ca
A BUSH PRE-ELECTION STRIKE ON IRAN: WHITE HOUSE INSIDERS REPORT "OCTOBER SURPRISE" IMMINENT
by Wayne Madsen - http://globalresearch.ca/articles/MAD410A.html
According to White House and Washington Beltway insiders, the Bush administration, worried that it could lose the presidential election to Senator John F. Kerry, has initiated plans to launch a military strike on Iran's top Islamic leadership, its nuclear reactor at Bushehr on the Persian Gulf, and key nuclear targets throughout the country, including the main underground research site at Natanz in central Iran and another in Isfahan. Targets of the planned U.S. attack reportedly include mosques in Tehran, Qom, and Isfahan known by the U.S. to headquarter Iran's top mullahs.
The Iran attack plan was reportedly drawn up after internal polling indicated that if the Bush administration launched a so-called anti-terrorist attack on Iran some two weeks before the election, Bush would be assured of a landslide win against Kerry. Reports of a pre-emptive strike on Iran come amid concerns by a number of political observers that the Bush administration would concoct an "October Surprise" to influence the outcome of the presidential election.
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Here is why I doubt it:
1- I doubt polls would show an upsurge in support from such an insane act.
2- The US officer corps would protect us from such idiocy.
3- The intelligence community is livid toward the Bush Administration. They would let us know.
4- Our best forces are already mired in an attrition land war in asia and our reserves are already drawn down to pre-Pearl Harbor levels of readiness.
He is why I think it may be plausible:
1- This administration thinks only of political survival and would do anything that might plausibly help.
2- The true masters of the Bush family - the Saudi Royal House - WANT our forces mired while we daily provide grist for Al Jazeera propaganda. Their greatest fear is rapprochement between America and Iran. Such a strike would solidify forever the mullahs' grip on Iran and drive that country into a pan Islamic Jihad that has always been the Saudi's central goal.
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