Yeah, I believe you. Suuuuuuuuuure!

Why is it that I don't believe the State Dept. estimate that Iran can have a nuclear weapon within 16 days if it goes ahead with plans to install 50,000 centrifuges at Natanz? Hmmmmmmmmm?
Could this be preliminary propaganda to justify a future nuclear attack on Iran? Will George W. Bush become the man who destroyed nuclear non-proliferation forever, not to mention the first person ever to launch a
"preemptive" nuclear strike?
American Conservative has this to say about the possibility of an attack on Iran:

In Washington it is hardly a secret that the same people in and around the administration who brought you Iraq are preparing to do the same for Iran. The Pentagon, acting under instructions from Vice President Dick Cheney’s office, has tasked the United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM) with drawing up a contingency plan to be employed in response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States. The plan includes a large-scale air assault on Iran employing both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons. Within Iran there are more than 450 major strategic targets, including numerous suspected nuclear-weapons-program development sites. Many of the targets are hardened or are deep underground and could not be taken out by conventional weapons, hence the nuclear option. As in the case of Iraq, the response is not conditional on Iran actually being involved in the act of terrorism directed against the United States. Several senior Air Force officers involved in the planning are reportedly appalled at the implications of what they are doing—that Iran is being set up for an unprovoked nuclear attack—but no one is prepared to damage his career by posing any objections. (Emphasis Mine.)

Why would I, a liberal, quote American Conservative? So that you know that this isn't liberal propaganda or just the rantings of a Bush-hater. This is a genuine possibility. Even the flag-waving conservatives are beginning to be concerned about the insanity of this administration's plans for the world. Our president may actually launch a nuclear strike on a country that poses no threat to us, has committed no overt act of war, in a completely premeditated act of mass murder.

Depending on the timing of this attack, this may be the set up for Bush to obliterate what's left of American democracy by suspending democratic elections, placing all "undesirable elements" (read: anyone who opposes his plans) under illegal surveillance or detention, and declaring martial law nationwide. This places KBR's contract to build detention camps in America in an entirely new and woefully terrifying new light.

Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has warned that we may be seeing the "beginnings" of dictatorship due to the far right's attack on the judicial system and the courts. Couple this with the attacks on the American media, the constitutional separation of powers, and the constitutional rights of Americans with the Patriot Act and the NSA spying, and you can see how far we've gone down the road to totalitarianism.

More on the degeneration of American freedom later. For now, Liberals In Exile brings you this reminder of our president's commitment to the American way of life:

"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator." —Washington, D.C., Dec. 19, 2000

Author's Note: Tonight is the first night of Passover. I would normally spend this night in observance, with writing the furthest thing from my mind. But I felt that a higher moral duty called. In the face of such horror, I could not remain silent even on this holy night. A higher moral duty calls to all of us, no matter our faith or lack thereof, to ensure that George W. Bush is denied his opportunity to become death, the destroyer of worlds. Removing Bush and Cheney from office through impeachment must become our first priority. The lives of millions of innocent people in Iran may depend on us. Failure is not an option.

Shalom Alechem,

Melinda Barton