Another socialist blog

You already knew that Sarah Palin is a supporter of the Alaskan Independence Party.  (Here’s a statement of her support, in her own words.)   And you knew that her husband joined the party and remained a member for seven years.  But did you know that the Alaskan Independence Party was sponsored by Iran?  It seems Joe Vogler, the founder of the party who was murdered when a plastic explosives deal went bad, had big dreams of denouncing the United States before the UN.  David Talbot reports:

Vogler’s greatest moment of glory was to be his 1993 appearance before the United Nations to denounce United States “tyranny” before the entire world and to demand Alaska’s freedom. The Alaska secessionist had persuaded the government of Iran to sponsor his anti-American harangue.

That’s right … Iran. The Islamic dictatorship. The taker of American hostages. The rogue nation that McCain and Palin have excoriated Obama for suggesting we diplomatically engage. That Iran.

Well, yeah, that would be the same Iran where the United States deposed a democratically elected government in 1953, and instituted a brutal 25-year dictatorship.  And the U.S. gave military support to Iraq in the Iran-Iraq war of 1980-1988.  And the U.S. is currently waging a war, an actual shooting war, against Iran.  So I do sort of understand why they might be a little anti-American for a while yet.  But I digress.

None of this would be interesting except for the fact that Sarah Palin has made political points for herself by scaremongering with the Iran boogeyman.  Well then.  If we’re supposed to be scared of Iran, then by all means let’s be scared of your pals in the Alaskan Independence Party too.

The Bush administration’s secret war against Iran has already begun. Seymour Hersch reveals in the New Yorker that covert military operations, and covert “intelligence” operations, are already occurring. Armed Special Forces units are on the ground inside Iran, with orders to assassinate various “high value targets.” They are authorized to use “defensive lethal action,” which I imagine means killing any Iranians who have the temerity to defend themselves. The target list, the list of people to be murdered, was drawn up by the Vice President’s office, a fact Hersch reiterated in this Fresh Air interview.

The White House denies it.

“I can tell you flatly that U.S. forces are not operating across the Iraqi border into Iran, in the south or anywhere else,” U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan C. Crocker said Sunday during an interview on CNN’s Late Edition.

This is something Hersch must be used to by now. So far, he always turns out to be right: about the My Lai massacre, among other stories of American war crimes.

Key members of Congress approved $400 million in funding for the secret war. According to the article,

None of the four Democrats in the Gang of Eight—Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Intelligence Committee chairman John D. Rockefeller IV, and House Intelligence Committee chairman Silvestre Reyes—would comment on the Finding, with some noting that it was highly classified. An aide to one member of the Democratic leadership responded, on his behalf, by pointing to the limitations of the Gang of Eight process. The notification of a Finding, the aide said, “is just that—notification, and not a sign-off on activities.  Proper oversight of ongoing intelligence activities is done by fully briefing the members of the intelligence committee.” However, Congress does have the means to challenge the White House once it has been sent a Finding. It has the power to withhold funding for any government operation. The members of the House and Senate Democratic leadership who have access to the Finding can also, if they choose to do so, and if they have shared concerns, come up with ways to exert their influence on Administration policy.

In other words, they signed off. More to the point, if the Democratic Party had any intention of interfering with secret Presidential wars, they would have repealed the law authorizing covert wars in the first place.  And they would have impeached George W. Bush by now.

There has been a recent surge of violence inside Iran.

The U.S. has temporarily lifted sanctions against Iran to permit the sending of humanitarian aid to earthquake victims, an action George W says illustrates our “compassionate” nature. This is not to be confused with an actual improvement in relations between the U.S. and Iran, of course, so it will soon once again be illegal for Americans to send any humanitarian aid to suffering Iranians.

Of course to actually improve relations with the U.S., Iran will have to make some changes demanded by the Bush administration. Bush demands that Iran turn over Al Quaeda operatives to their countries of origin, where we can assume they will be tortured to death.

Bush also insists that the Iranian government listen to Iranians who want “freedom.” The U.S. has already weighed in on the subject of freedom in Iran, having overthrown a democratically elected government, installed a dictator, and supported him for 25 years.