By Peter Symonds
http://www.wsws.org
6 November 2008
On the eve of the US elections, the New York Times cautiously pointed on Monday to the emergence of a bipartisan consensus in Washington for an aggressive new strategy towards Iran. While virtually nothing was said in the course of the election campaign, behind-the-scenes top advisers from the Obama and McCain camps have been discussing the rapid escalation of diplomatic pressure and punitive sanctions against Iran, backed by preparations for military strikes.
The article entitled “New Beltway Debate: What to do about Iran” noted with a degree of alarm: “It is a frightening notion, but it not just the trigger-happy Bush administration discussing—if only theoretically—the possibility of military action to stop Iran’s nuclear weapons program… [R]easonable people from both parties are examining the so-called military option, along with new diplomatic initiatives.”
Behind the backs of American voters, top advisers for President-elect Barack Obama have been setting the stage for a dramatic escalation of confrontation with Iran as soon as the new administration takes office. A report released in September from the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington-based think tank, argued that a nuclear weapons capable Iran was “strategically untenable” and detailed a robust approach, “incorporating new diplomatic, economic and military tools in an integrated fashion”.
A key member of the Center’s task force was Obama’s top Middle East adviser, Dennis Ross, who is well known for his hawkish views. He backed the US invasion of Iraq and is closely associated with neo-cons such as Paul Wolfowitz. Ross worked under Wolfowitz in the Carter and Reagan administrations before becoming the chief Middle East envoy under presidents Bush senior and Clinton. After leaving the State Department in 2000, he joined the right-wing, pro-Israel think tank—the Washington Institute for Near East Policy—and signed up as a foreign policy analyst for Fox News.
[…]
see
Dandelion Salad 
Pingback: Alex Jones speaks out on Obama’s team on Russia Today « Dandelion Salad
Pingback: What Obama win means + Obama and global security with Jonathan Schell « Dandelion Salad
Pingback: Mosaic News - 11/5/08: World News from the Middle East « Dandelion Salad
Pingback: Ali Abunimah: Obama picks pro-Israel hardliner for top post « Dandelion Salad
Pingback: The Irony of the Ecstasy By Adam Engel « Dandelion Salad
Pingback: Nader: Obama will be like Bush + Obama recruits “Rahmbo” Emanuel + Howard Zinn « Dandelion Salad
Pingback: Dear God, Please Give Me A Bailout So I Can Believe! By Gary Corseri « Dandelion Salad
We should have elected Ralph Nader. He would Talk to Mahmoud and the Mullahs, and set straight the Israelis (Don’t we have a huge expanse of uninhabitable and far less offensive desert right here in the usa for Israel to relocate since they love the dismal desert so much?? Religious cults seem to love deserts, we have plenty of red-state dispensationalists who would be glad to be convinced that the promised land was actually right next door in in Utah! After all, scripture is as we’ve seen one of the most maleable forms of ‘information’ we have)
Pingback: A Look Under the Hood at the (Potential) Obama Administration « Dandelion Salad
I don’t think they will attack Iran, they will wait and see if the President of iran gets re elected, I think you will see Iran want to negotiate a settlement, if we do the bombing then they will only strengten the existing president which is a bad move.
Pingback: Turkey, Lebanon sign cooperation deal on terrorism and crime « Dandelion Salad