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POPS Limited US attack on Iranian Revolutionary Guards Bases in Sight Tehran would view a US attack on the IRGC bases as a casus belli and might react in ways and on a scale unanticipated in Washington. Two days ago, Iran’s defense minister Gen. Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar warned: “Iran’s Armed Forces are fully prepared to counter any military attack with any intensity and to make the enemy regret initiating any such incursions.” According to DEBKAfile’s Iranian and military sources, the IRGC had by mid-May completed their preparations for a US missile, air or commando assault on their command centers and bases in reprisal for Iranian intervention in Iraq. These preparations encompass al Qods’ arms, most of them undercover, in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Sudan. At home, the Revolutionary Guards have evacuated their key bases together with manpower and equipment to regular army sites or temporary quarters in villages located in remote corners of eastern and northern Iran.
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POPSSecret US-Iranian Dialogue Shakes Up Mid East Alliances and the Sunni guerrilla insurgents in Iraq, to allow President Bush to claim his Iraq campaign had ended successfully before leaving the White House. DEBKAfile’s military sources report that Tehran ordered Iranian intelligence officers working undercover in Iraq to halt attacks on US troops by pro-Iranian militias, including Moqtada Sadr’s Mehdi Army. This has left US and Iraqi government force with free hands for large-scale operations against al Qaeda. Read Full Article
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POPSOperation Brimstone Operation Brimstone boasts two striking features: 1. It will include for the first time units of the US Expeditionary Combat Command, who are trained to operate in shallow coastal waters and rivers, such as the coastal waters of the Persian Gulf and the small islands around its chokepoint, the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian Revolutionary Guards marine units are posted on these islands. The international force will have to control the islands to ensure oil shipping freed passage out to world markets. 2. The Roosevelt’s decks will for the first time host French Rafale fighter jets which will share space with US warplanes, while the only French carrier Charles de Gaulle undergoes maintenance.
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POPSMahmoud The Fauxtographer Update: This image, part of a framegrab from an Al Alam television broadcast of the launch (apparently taken at approximately the same time from a slightly higher elevation) makes it pretty clear which missile was conjured from borrowed pixels.
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POPSIran test-fires missiles in Persian Gulf Notice how Iranian war games raise alarms and calls for a missile defense shield in Europe (mull that one over for a bit) but Israeli war games explicitly targeted at Iran don't get the same coverage.
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POPSIran to Israel: "Go Ahead, Make My Day" Attack our facilities and war starts. US Admiral (a stand-in Liar who replaced the resisting and valiant Admiral Fallon, who called Gen Petreus a "chickensh*t" for kissing up to Bush) then lies saying Iran will attack Israel...while Iran has attacked no other country in over 200 years while Israel and the US have attacked many. Listen to this Democracy Now podcast with Seymour Hersh (NY Times) about how Israel cannot attack Iran without US involvement (i.e. American troops on the ground necessary for such operation, dying for Israeli aggression).
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POPSNext Stop, Iran? Iran's conventional forces include an army of 540,000 men and 300,000 reserves, including 120,000 Iranian Guards especially trained in unconventional warfare. It has more than 1,600 main battle tanks and 21,000 other armored combat vehicles. It has 3,200 artillery pieces, three submarines, 59 surface warships and 10 amphibious ships. It's been receiving help in arming itself from China, North Korea and Russia. Unlike Iraq, Iran's forces have not been worn down with bombing, wars and sanctions. It also has a new anti-aircraft defense system from Russia that I've heard is pretty snazzy. So, if you think we or Israel can attack Iran and not expect retaliation, I'd have to say with regret that you are a moron. If you think we could easily handle Iran in an all-out war, I'd have to promote you to idiot. Attacking Iran would be folly, but we seem to be living in the Age of Folly. (read more at source)
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POPSBush breaks from the past? 
On the domestic front, Bush broadly expanded federal spending on education, signed campaign finance reform and orchestrated a huge expansion of health-care entitlements with his prescription drug benefit. Whatever the merits of those policies, it’s unlikely historians will see them as a radical, right-wing break from the Clinton years. much as Obama’s own foreign policy advisors have for a while — that his foreign policy promises will not survive contact with post-election reality. Already, Obama is changing his tune from his old, irresponsibly heated rhetoric about “immediate” withdrawal to talking about the need for policies that would adapt to the improving conditions in Iraq. Given Obama’s ideological leanings and inexperience, there’s clearly plenty of potential for him to make costly mistakes. But odds are he, too, would come to realize that America needs to win the war on terror and succeed in Iraq. Hence the greatest irony. A successful Obama presidency would have the u
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POPSWhy We Need a Domestic Energy Policy Instead of spending so much money and wasting so many innocent lives getting involved in military efforts in the middle east, to keep the supply of oil open, why don't we focus more of our resources on being energy independent. Hmmm - let me see, if my options for securing energy resources are: A) Using military force to get involved in battles with unstable leaders and militant religious groups in the middle east to secure access to oil. B) Invest in research and development of alternative energy sources we can control within our own borders. I can't see why anyone would choose option A. Oh wait, our president is heavily tied to big oil companies that are buying their way to influence our government policies. Spend our money and lives on energy independence, not securing the middle east!
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POPS Iran Hoarding Oil In The Persian Gulf: 270,000 Tons Of Crude 
Some energy analysts have speculated that Iran is holding out for a better market price to sell its oil. But with oil prices already hitting record highs, this explanation does not add up. Another explanation is that the current policy is a result of the NIOC’s inferior management skills — which is certainly possible, given Iran’s poor track record in managing its investment-deprived energy sector. The intent behind such a policy would be for Iran to manipulate global crude prices by reducing exports and driving up demand. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad already threw around threats in recent days to cut Iranian oil output, sending jitters through the energy market that ended up pushing oil prices to $127 per barrel. From the standpoint of the Iranian Energy Ministry, the threats to reduce output combined with a reduction in exports could drive up prices further and allow the Iranians to get a better deal on their crude sales.
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POPSCheeney/Zionist Plan for Nuclear Against Iran! "Of the many American illusions and delusions surrounding this war, the Administration's calculations with respect to Iran were among the most wildly off base. Instead of generating a liberal, secular democracy whose reverberations would drive out Iran's clerical oligarchs, the disastrous Bush policies fostered a sectarian Iraq that has helped empower Iranian hardliners. Rather than serving as an anchor for a new era of stability and American preeminence in the Persian Gulf, the new Iraq represents a strategic black hole, bleeding Washington of military resources and political influence while extending Iran's primacy among its neighbours." ... American researcher Suzanne Maloney
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