Army Radio is reporting that President Bush intends to launch a military strike against Iran before the end of his term.

The source disclosed that a senior official close to Bush said in a closed meeting that Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney believed military action against Iran was now called for.

Bush concluded a trip to Israel last week, where he said, "The objective of the United States must be to . . . support our strongest ally and friend in the Middle East.�

The report, which was quoted by the Jerusalem Post, disclosed that the recent turmoil in Lebanon, where the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah had seized virtual control of the country, was encouraging an American attack.

Hezbollah�s aggression in Lebanon is seen as evidence of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad�s growing influence, and the U.S. official said that in Bush�s view, �the disease must be treated, not its symptoms,� according to the Post.

The White House on Tuesday denied the Radio report, saying in a statement: �As the president has said, no president of the United States should ever take options off the table, but our preference and our actions for dealing with this matter remain through peaceful diplomatic means. Nothing has changed in that regard.�

However, numerous signs point to a U.S. strike on Iran in the near future:

# A leading member of America�s Jewish community told Newsmax in April that a military strike on Iran was likely and that Vice President Cheney�s March trip through the Middle East came in preparation for the U.S. attack.

The Air Force recently declared the B-2 bomber fleet � a critical weapons system in any U.S. attack on Iran � as airworthy again. The Air Force had halted B-2 flights after a February crash in Guam. As Newsmax reported, the Air Force has refitted its stealth bombers to carry 30,000-pound �bunker buster� bombs, needed to destroy Iran�s hardened nuclear facilities.

A second U.S. aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, joined the carrier USS Harry S. Truman in the Persian Gulf in May, carrying far more weaponry and ammunition than on previous deployments.

Israel is gearing up for war. In April, it conducted its largest homeland military exercises ever. The Jewish-American source said Israel is �preparing for heavy casualties,� expecting to be the target of Iranian retribution following the U.S. attack.

Saudi Arabia is taking steps to prepare for possible radioactive contamination from U.S. destruction of Iran�s nuclear facilities. The Saudi government reportedly approved nuclear fallout preparations a day after Cheney met with the kingdom�s highest-ranking officials.

The USS Ross, an Aegis-class destroyer, has taken up station off the coast of Lebanon. Military observers speculate it is there to help defend Israel from missile attacks.

Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a recent Pentagon briefing that the Iranians are systematically importing and training Shiite militia fighters, who slip back across the Iraqi border to kill American troops.

And Israeli intelligence has predicted that Iran will acquire its first nuclear device in 2009, much earlier than previous U.S. estimates.

Israel says jump and the US says how high...

Rhetoric.

We've always been allies with eastasia, we've always been at war with IRAN and always will be!!!

LONG LIVE BIG BROTHER

Glass motherfuckers!!! Mo glass!!!

doubt it.

maybe giving israel aid if THEY attack, but we simply don't have the manpower or the money to do another full on war in a country that's even more geographically and socially precarious than the one we're in now

Didn't stop us last time.

the numbers were different though. there was definitely a lot less troops in afghanistan when we invaded iraq as opposed to how many we now have in iraq with a second possible war on the way.

if we invaded iran, bush would be either assassinated or impeached.

hmmmm...6 months is just enough time for cheney to evoke some kind of executive continuation bullshit

I'm sure they'll somehow link Bin Laden's location to Iran or something. They like linking stuff and assuming things.

now, i could say something like "we can only hope," but that would be illegal.

Good. While we're over there we should get them damned Jews in Israel because they are the ones that are always getting us in messes like this.

i'm waiting for Bush to be the first president to try and find a way to extend his stay in office. it really wouldn't surprise me.

McCain = Bush II ...or III i dunno i lost count.


someone should have mentioned GW in the horrible sequels thread.

at least mccain seems to have some respect for the environment. he used to seem like more of a maverick, but he's really pandering to the neocons now.

Exterminate the jews.

hahahahahahahahaha

aboot fookin time!

god damn.. Do you guys think the people in the rest of the country feel the same way about Bush as we do? I know his approval rating is almost nil, but that doesnt mean the whole country thinks he's the worst president ever. He really is like a character you would read about in a fiction novel. It's really kinda hard to believe that he runs our country. It makes ya think that this country might get real real bad before it gets better. And it may not get better.