John Dean, Iran, the Warner Act, and the Elections

I shared a book panel with John Dean yesterday at the West Hollywood Book Fair. Dean is a very gracious person and it was fun to be on the panel with him. His whistleblowing of the Nixon administration, as people know, was instrumental in Nixon's downfall, leading to impeachment articles that were on the verge of a Congressional vote. Nixon, to avoid the inevitable, resigned before the vote. Dean's a legend and deservedly so. His recent writings include some very important exposures of how things are actually working in D.C. today.

At the same time, while Dean's no longer a member of the "tribe" he used to be a part of - the GOP - and while he despises what Bush and Cheney have done, and has written a book entitled Worse Than Watergate, he still opposes the impeachment of Bush and Cheney. We had a friendly but sharp disagreement at the event over the prospects of an attack on Iran, over the Warner Act, and over the 2004 Presidential election. In brief, Dean said that he didn't think an attack was pending on Iran because it would be irrational for them to do it and that the White House was essentially engaging in sabre rattling, the Warner Act doesn't mean that the President can take control over the National Guard units nationally to enforce martial law, and the 2004 election being stolen is a "conspiracy theory."

Let me take the last point first. As I state in Chapter Two of my book, Impeach the President, just to cite one of the items in my initial list of nineteen "impossibles and improbables:"

"6. Bush far exceeded the 85 percent of registered Florida Republicans’ votes he got in 2000, receiving in 2004 more than 100 percent of the registered Republican votes in 24 out of the 67 Florida counties, more than 200 percent of registered Republicans in 10 counties, over 300 percent of registered Republicans in 4 counties, more than 400 percent in 2 counties, and over 700 percent in one county. Bush’s share of crossover votes by registered Democrats in Florida, however, did not actually increase over 2000 and he lost ground among registered Independents, dropping 15 points. Floridians were just so enthusiastic about Bush and Cheney that they somehow managed to overrule basic math."

On the Warner Act issue, Dean's right that by declaring martial law they would be acting unconstitutionally, but you can read what the Act says yourself. I would also point out that something being unconstitutional hasn't stopped them yet! See here on my website with links to other essays. If you do a search on my website for "Warner Act" you will find a number of essays in which I discuss the Warner Act, related E.O.s and the situation in which these are occurring.

On Iran, the fact that it would be crazy for them to attack Iran isn't an argument refuting the fact that they are planning to do it and that they are going to do it unless we stop them. Bush and Cheney aren't engaging in a bluff. These people don't see the world the way most of the rest of us do. They truly believe that they can make real whatever they want to be real. It's one of the benefits of belonging to the "faith-based community."

See the following:

US garners support for strike on Iran

Anne Davies Herald Correspondent in Washington
October 2, 2007

AUSTRALIA, Britain and Israel have reportedly "expressed interest" in a US campaign to launch surgical bombing raids on Iran targeting Revolutionary Guard Corps facilities.

A report in The New Yorker by the journalist Seymour Hersh said the Bush Administration had stopped trying to justify a campaign against Iran on the basis of curtailing Iran's nuclear ambitions. It is instead redefining the war in Iraq as a strategic battle between the US and Iran.

Hersh said the bombing plan has had its most positive reception from Britain's Prime Minister, Gordon Brown. While Hersh did not mention Australia in the article, he told CNN: "There have been expressions of interest from Australia, and other countries. The Israelis, of course, have gone bananas. They're very upset about the idea of not going … They want us to go. And they want us to hit hard."

The Minister for Defence, Brendan Nelson, was in the US a month ago for briefings with defence officials and a meeting with the US Defence Secretary, Robert Gates. Dr Nelson told reporters at the time that he had discussed Iran, but declined to elaborate.

A spokesman for Dr Nelson declined to comment yesterday.

A spokesman for the Foreign Affairs Minister, Alexander Downer, referred to his comments in New York last week after a meeting with the Iranian Foreign Minister, and said the position had not changed.

He said Iran needed to be put under pressure by the UN Security Council, but consideration should also be given to other measures such as financial sanctions.

Hersh said the revised bombing plan, with its tightened focus on counter-terrorism, was gathering support among the generals and admirals in the Pentagon who had been apprehensive about an earlier, broader plan to bomb Iran.

"The strategy calls for the use of sea-launched cruise missiles and more precisely targeted ground attacks and bombing strikes, including plans to destroy the most important Revolutionary Guard training camps supply depots and command-and-control facilities," Hersh wrote. He said there were also plans to hit Iran's anti-aircraft surface-to-air missile sites.

He said a Pentagon consultant on counter-terrorism had told him that if the bombing campaign took place, it would be accompanied by a series of what he called "short, sharp incursions" by American Special Forces into suspected Iranian training sites.

Sources have told the Herald the plan is likely to be put into action only if there were significant US casualties in Iraq that could be attributed to Iranian activity. Hersh also floats this scenario, suggesting a significant attack on American servicemen from across the border could trigger US action.

Hersh pointed to a speech made by the US President, George Bush, in August to the American Legion in which Mr Bush said: "The attacks on our bases and our troops by Iranian-supplied munitions have increased … The Iranian regime must halt these actions, and until it does I will take actions necessary to protect our troops.

"I have authorised our military commanders in Iraq to confront Tehran's murderous activities."

But since then Mr Bush has made a number of other comments suggesting that the Administration may still be hopeful of a diplomatic solution, and in recent weeks has prevailed upon France to assist in dealing with Tehran.

In response to the Hersh article, a White House spokeswoman, Dana Perino, said: "The President believes this issue can be solved diplomatically. And the Administration is working with the international community through the United Nations Security Council, plus Germany to bring diplomatic measures to bear on Iran to put an end to its enrichment and reprocessing activities."

But Hersh's article detailed conversations with numerous sources in the Department of Defence, the CIA and former Administration officials who have heard talk of the strike plans and who claim the option is gaining momentum.

This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/10/01/1191091029426.html