Push Towards War with Iran

James Bamford's article "Iran: the Next War" in Rolling Stone and Laura Rozen's "Three Days in Rome" in Mother Jones should really be read together for the behind-the-scenes story of the push by certain segments of the Bush Administration to go to war with Iran. (If you aren't reading daily Rozen's blog War and Piece for up to the minute updates on international, especially Middle Eastern, security affairs, then you are missing out).

Bamford's piece focuses on the story of the disgraced Pentagon official Larry Franklin, who was arrested for passing intelligence to the Israelis. Rozen looks at the involvement of Manucher Ghorbanifar, an Iranian exile who may or may not have access to information from inside Iran.

Together these articles paint the picture of a small group of Iran hawks in the Pentagon who have gone beyond normal channels in their efforts to gain information in order to shift attention to the growing problem of Iran.

Bamford's article contains the most explosive new facts, detailing a probable double-cross by Ahmed Chalabi in which Chalabi may have tipped off Tehran that the U.S. had broken their communications codes.

The insights offered by Bamford and Rozen are frightening not because they show the movement towards war with Iran -- Iran is clearly one of the most pressing issues that the U.S. needs to deal with, and it is more and more likely that some degree of military action will be necessary. What is frightening is the way the business of international intelligence gathering and influence-peddling is conducted: it is apparent that many of the people that the Pentagon and other U.S. government agencies are forced to rely on are far from reputable. It is frightening that so many lives are held in such dirty hands.