Will Bluster Cow the Iranians? It's Worth a Try!
The air over Washington is thick with martial bluster following the drone attack that killed three sleeping U.S. Army reservists at a base on the Jordanian-Syrian border last Sunday. Pentagon officials admit they have zero evidence that Iran was involved in the attack, but the warfare state is demanding Biden take retaliatory action nevertheless. Among the loudest voices in the chorus is that of retired Admiral James G. Stavridis, who from his perch at Bloomberg Opinion has called for hitting the Persians with cyberattacks, as well as unleashing the CIA to “create, fund and operationalize our own proxies against Iran.” (I thought we did that already with Al Qaeda spinoffs in Syria.) He also calls for “5-7 days of continuous strikes against proxy targets in Syria and Yemen” as well as attacking Iranian ships and oil installations. Stavridis is not alone in such bellicosity, nor could he hope to equal the likes of Senators Lindsay Graham or Tom Cotton for sheer inanity, but for a leading light of what former CIA analyst Ray McGovern usefully christened the MICIMATT, or Military-Industrial-Congressional-Intelligence-Media- Academia-Think-Tank Complex, Stavridis’ ascent to influence and reward (twenty directorships with defense-related corporations since retirement!) in our ruling establishment deserves close attention.
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