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International News Title: Neocons to "Forget about the democracy crap" in Iraq News today that the Bush Administration is to intensify operations in Iraq, rather than concede to withdrawal, and that domestically they are desperately attempting to pass last minute warrantless surveillance legislation, indicates that the Neocon leadership is more desperate, more determined and more dangerous than ever. The London Guardian today reported that internal strategy documents being prepared by long term Bush ally James Baker, under the guise of the "Independent" Iraq Study Group, will advocate "a last big push" to win the war involving an increase of US forces by up to 20,000 soldiers. An anonymous US official added: "Bush has said 'no' to withdrawal, so what else do you have? The Baker report will be a set of ideas, more realistic than in the past, that can be used as political tools. What they're going to say is: lower the goals, forget about the democracy crap, put more resources in, do it." According to the, official Baker has been preparing a four point strategy in closed sessions with Dick Cheney. The Four points are as follows: · Increase US troop levels by up to 20,000 to secure Baghdad and allow redeployments elsewhere in Iraq · Focus on regional cooperation with international conference and/or direct diplomatic involvement of countries such as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia · Revive reconciliation process between Sunni, Shia and others · Increased resources from Congress to fund training and equipment of Iraqi security forces So the order out of chaos begins. The fomenting of civil war, as we have previously documented, and former officials and Ambassadors have testified, was part of a deliberate strategy to descend Iraq into chaos in order that the solution of a US controlled sectarian Iraq could finally be offered up. This is what we shall see unfold under James Baker. A Democratic Congress will therefore be responsible not for getting the troops out of Iraq, but for putting more in there and beefing up resources. Journalist Chris Floyd has described this move thus: This is the "McCain Option": somehow scare up tens of thousands of new U.S. troops, presumably without a draft, and fling 'em into the fire, then, as Cox notes, "take the cities street by street and hold them through a massive security and intelligence clamp-down." But he also notes the further undeniable truth: "It is of course politically inconceivable, on either side of the Atlantic." However, this is the only serious option that would not very likely lead to full-blown civil war – mostly because it would unite many of the Iraqi factions now at odds into the mother of all insurgencies against the intensified occupation. The democrats will have very little option than to totally comply with Baker's recommendations, in an effort to bring the conflict to an end before 2008. Iraq has been their springboard to office. They will hardly be able to refuse to engage with the issue when given the chance, especially now that Bush's new best friend Nancy Pelosi has been confirmed as the House speaker. The goal has of course always been to stay in Iraq and establish long term occupying force there, not to "liberate" the people, give them democracy and leave. The war has as much to do with liberation and democracy as it has to do with WMD. Thus the "democracy crap" has been jettisoned from the now see through rhetoric. Forthcoming events don't paint too pretty a picture either. Russia’s parliament has today warned that carrying out the death sentence imposed on Saddam Hussein could provoke a new wave of violence in Iraq: “Carrying out the death sentence would not resolve the current problems of the long-suffering Iraqi people and could give rise to new ones, and lead to a new phase of harsher confrontation, revenge and hostility,” A more determined and desperate Neocon leadership has also led others to predict an inflammation of the situation with Iran. As Iran makes a "final step" in its nuclear program, senior government officials have stated that pre-emptive strikes may be on the table. The Iranians have repeatedly claimed that they are being threatened with force by Israel, while the Israeli ambassador has said that "US President George W. Bush will not hesitate to use force against Iran in order to halt its nuclear program,". As point two of James Baker's Iraq strategy will look to diplomatic cooperation with Iraq's neighbours, should Iran be seen as refusing to cooperate with the strategy, this may be used as a final excuse to impose isolation and a blockade on Iran, possibly leading to conflict. Leading Neocons such as Richard Perle and Michael Ledeen, extremely disgruntled with the fierce criticism they have recently received over the Iraq war, are now calling for swift and decisive action. Domestically things seem to be intensifying also with the news that the outgoing Republican chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Arlen Specter has made a last-minute attempt at giving the Bush administration what he calls the necessary "resources" for carrying out its phone call and Internet surveillance within the law. Sickeningly calling it "a significant advance in protecting civil liberties", his 11 page proposal presents a watered down version of Bush's "terrorist surveillance program", which allows for warrantless surveillance so long as any appeals against a given case are reviewed. The bill also ensures a scale back of a 1947 law that governs reports on government intelligence activities to Congress, requiring only that the chairmen of each congressional intelligence committee be privy to those documents. Another section would allows warrantless tapping into "foreign-to-foreign" communications, even if Americans are involved in those exchanges. In terms of other domestic issues Congressman Ron Paul, speaking on the Alex Jones show last week, warned that because Congressional power has switched to the Democrats, what real Conservatism there was left in the House, to block programs such as Bush's amnesty program for illegals, as well as the development of the NAFTA Superhighway and the North American Union, is gone. With Pelosi at the helm Ron Paul sees it as a forgone conclusion that such policies will sail through. "I think that's right, although I complain about the two parties being exactly alike, I would say on this amnesty issue and what's happened with the election, there probably was a difference between the two. It is more likely with the Democrats in charge, and Judiciary and the other major committees, and with the President not really fighting for our national borders, he's always argued for some type of worker program, yes I think there's a much greater danger that that is going to be coming in the next session." It certainly seems that now, more than ever, we should be on guard against a wounded and dangerous Neocon leadership. The American people have shown that they do not trust them and they want rid of them. In this sense, and with "impeachment off the table", the Bush cabal has nothing left to lose.
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