Unprecedented: Generals to quit if Bush attacks Iran

Posted by Evan Derkacz at 9:28 AM on February 26, 2007.

Several months prior to the unveiling of the Bush Administration's Shock and Awe campaign on Iraq White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card said, "From a marketing point of view, you don't introduce new products in August."

Likewise, the marketing for an attack on Iran -- arguably the Administration's Main Event from the start -- has been in the works for some time, though it's picked up a significant head of steam lately.

There have been problems with the product, however, with two significant new ones cropping up today. First, dissent in the highest ranks of the military with regard to an unwise and immoral idea:

"There are four or five generals and admirals we know of who would resign if Bush ordered an attack on Iran," a source with close ties to British intelligence said. "There is simply no stomach for it in the Pentagon, and a lot of people question whether such an attack would be effective or even possible."

The Generals call it a decision of "conscience" and the Times of London notes that this would be no ordinary event:

"'American generals usually stay and fight until they get fired,' said a Pentagon source."

At the same time, the UN has essentially said that American intelligence sucks (read: not to be trusted):

officials said the CIA and other Western spy services had provided sensitive information to the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency at least since 2002, when Iran's long-secret nuclear program was exposed. But none of the tips about supposed secret weapons sites provided clear evidence that the Islamic Republic was developing illicit weapons.

"Since 2002, pretty much all the intelligence that's come to us has proved to be wrong," a senior diplomat at the IAEA said. Another official here described the agency's intelligence stream as "very cold now" because "so little panned out."

ACTION: MoveOn has a new petition demanding that President Bush get authorization from Congress before making any move on Iran. Sign HERE.

Tagged as: iran, iraq, military, intelligence, un, iaea

Evan Derkacz is an AlterNet editor. He writes and edits PEEK, the blog of blogs.