Iran developments, various reading on 9/11, bin Laden,the draft, racism, and more.

The Agonist shows how to plan in insane war in three fun filled steps, including more on building of base on the Iranian border. Hmmmm I wonder how we would react if China built the base in Toronto or Vancouver BC?

In what I see as some good news, there is some dissent going on in the military with CENTCOM Commander Admiral William Fallon at odds with his subordinate and BushCo affiliate General David Petraeus. FYI, Fallon is in charge of CENTCOM which mean central command, which includes Afghanistan, Iraq, and... Iran. Luckily for everyone he has said that an attack on Iran "on his watch." He is also threatened to resign and go public if ordered to do so. He is not alone thankfully, joined by unanimous support among the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Now for the not so great news. Michael Salla writes some very interesting article about the recent B-52 nuclear weapons fiasco and some really fishy insider-trading.

On August 30, a B-52 bomber armed with five nuclear-tipped Advanced Cruise missiles traveled from Minot Air Force base, North Dakota, to Barksdale Air Force base, Louisiana. Each missile had an adjustable yield between five and 150 kilotons of TNT which is at the lower end of the destructive capacities of U.S. nuclear weapons. For example, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima had a yield of 13 kilotons, while the Bravo Hydrogen bomb test of 1954 had a yield of 15,000 kilotons. The B-52 story was first covered in the Army Times on September 5 after the nuclear armed aircraft was discovered by Airmen (see: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/09/marine_nuclear_B52_070904w/ ). What made this a very significant event was that it was a violation of U.S. Air Force regulations concerning the transportation of nuclear weapons by air. Nuclear weapons are normally transported by air in specially constructed planes designed to prevent radioactive pollution in case of a crash. Such transport planes are not equipped to launch the nuclear weapons they routinely carry around the U.S. and the world for servicing or positioning.

Conclusion: Exposing those Responsible for the B-52 Incident

Consequently, there is considerable circumstantial evidence to argue that the nuclear armed B-52 was part of a covert operation, outside the regular chain of military command. The most plausible authority responsible for this was Vice President Cheney. He very likely used the Secret Service to take charge of a contrived National Special Security Event involving a nuclear armed B-52 that would be flown from Minot AFB. The B-52 was directed to Barksdale Air Force base where it would have conducted a covert mission to the Middle East involving the detonation of one or more nuclear weapons most likely in or in the vicinity of Iran. This could either have occurred during a conventional military strike against Iran, or a False Flag operation in the Persian Gulf region.

The leaking and discovery of the nuclear armed B-52 at Barksdale was not part of the script. According to a confidential source of Larry Johnson, a former counter-terrorism official from the State Department and CIA, the discovery of the nuclear armed B-52 was leaked. Johnson concludes: “Did someone at Barksdale try to indirectly warn the American people that the Bush Administration is staging nukes for Iran? I don’t know, but it is a question worth asking.” http://tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/2007/sep/05/staging_nuke_for_iran

NewsHoggers reports that there is a growing effort to oust Mohammed El Baradei.

By Cernig

The Bush administration are mounting another major attempt, behind the scenes, to oust Mohammed El Baradei. Bush and his supporters have had the knives out for the IAEA's director ever since he said prior to the invasion that Iraq had no WMD's and was proven right.

Now, they are annoyed that he has done what the UNSC told him to do - work to clear up outstanding issues regarding Iran's nuclear program. With a whiff of dirty tricks just to add some sleaze to stupidity. Thus proving that they never really cared about solving disputes over Iran's nuclear program or making the world a safer place - they just wanted the IAEA - and thus the UNSC - to rubberstamp their push for war.

Senator Mike Gravel on the lessons of 9/11. Huffpost

Troops are growing increasingly critical and resentful of the occupation. (ht C&L)

“President Eisenhower warned of the growing military industrial complex in his farewell address. Since Dick Cheney can now afford solid gold oil derricks, it’s safe to say we failed Ike miserably. After losing two friends and over a dozen comrades, I have this to say: Do not wage war unless it is absolutely, positively the last ditch effort for survival,” wrote Spc. Alex Horton, 22, of the 3rd Stryker Brigade in Army of Dude. “In the future, I want my children to grow up with the belief that what I did here was wrong, in a society that doesn’t deem that idea unpatriotic,” he blogged.

Professor Juan Cole questions the authenticity of the recent bin Laden video.

the LA Times reports understudy confirming the differences between liberals and conservatives' brain functioning.

Here is interesting article about warfare and the draft.

And no folks, racism is not a thing of the past, it's very much institutionalized and a way of life in some parts of America.