An open letter to the MSM

To: NBC(GE), CBS(formerly Westinghouse), CNN(Time-Warner), The New York Times and The Washington Post.
By acting as stenographers, verbal and written, for the Bush administration you are in part responsible for the debacle that Iraq has become. I'm sure that you did it because you thought there would be some advantages for your respective corporations. That is water under the bridge. This is the here and now and is even more insane then the Iraq invasion.
THE IRAN PLANS
Would President Bush go to war to stop Tehran from getting the bomb?

The Bush Administration, while publicly advocating diplomacy in order to stop Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon, has increased clandestine activities inside Iran and intensified planning for a possible major air attack. Current and former American military and intelligence officials said that Air Force planning groups are drawing up lists of targets, and teams of American combat troops have been ordered into Iran, under cover, to collect targeting data and to establish contact with anti-government ethnic-minority groups. The officials say that President Bush is determined to deny the Iranian regime the opportunity to begin a pilot program, planned for this spring, to enrich uranium.

[.....]

One former defense official, who still deals with sensitive issues for the Bush Administration, told me that the military planning was premised on a belief that “a sustained bombing campaign in Iran will humiliate the religious leadership and lead the public to rise up and overthrow the government.” He added, “I was shocked when I heard it, and asked myself, ‘What are they smoking?’ ”

Keep in mind this crazy theory is brought to you by the very same mad men who said we would be greeted with flowers in Iraq. Keep in mind that the Iranians can and will cut a quarter of the worlds oil if attacked setting off at best a world wide recession and more likely a depression. That can't be good for your corporations. Keep in mind that 140,000 Americans will become sitting ducks just across the border in Iraq. Keep in mind that much of the Iraqi Army will turn on the Americans if Iran is attacked.

You had the power to get us into a war, you also have the power to keep us out of one. This is the time. If you don't do it because it's the right thing to do for America and the world do because it because it's in the best interest of your corporations. Give up your stenographer's job and question all of the claims that come from this administration of mad men. Allow dissenting views. Save the US and the world from another mis-adventure by the insane incompetents in the Bush administration. Over 60% of the American people now think Bush lied about the reasons for invading Iraq so they will be receptive if you question the lies and spin regarding Iran. Think about!

Update
The Washington Post has a slightly less alarming take this morning:
U.S. Is Studying Military Strike Options on Iran

The Bush administration is studying options for military strikes against Iran as part of a broader strategy of coercive diplomacy to pressure Tehran to abandon its alleged nuclear development program, according to U.S. officials and independent analysts.

No attack appears likely in the short term, and many specialists inside and outside the U.S. government harbor serious doubts about whether an armed response would be effective. But administration officials are preparing for it as a possible option and using the threat "to convince them this is more and more serious," as a senior official put it.

This is a least a start at a preemptive strike on the part of the Post against the insanity of an attack on Iran.



More
As usual Joe Gandelman has a good round up of reactions to the Seymour Hersh article. It is interesting that while some question it few dismiss it completely. That includes both those who are shocked by it and those who are cheer leaders for armageddon.