Gooooooood morning, America!

I hope everyone got a good night’s rest last night after Mr Bu$h’s less-than-surprising pretend apology and speech last night, because we are now officially off to World War IV or IX or XIV or something.

This morning we learn that the escalation to save George Bu$h’s reputation is already on as troops have already been moved into Iraq. There are reports that an entire brigade from the 82d Airborne is being shipped to Kuwait. Some have already arrived there, and deployment of a battalion from that division into the Baghdad area is in process now, in real time, as we begin to add the 21,500 additional troops that Field Marshals Kristol and Kagan have demanded, and that knowledgeable and experienced American military officers have admitted will have no significant bearing on the Iraq resistance.

The NY Times is reporting this morning that Mr Bu$h is welcoming confrontation with the Democratic Party and the American people.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 — By stepping up the American military presence in Iraq, President Bush is not only inviting an epic clash with the Democrats who run Capitol Hill. He is ignoring the results of the November elections, rejecting the central thrust of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group and flouting the advice of some of his own generals, as well as Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq.

In so doing, Mr. Bush is taking a calculated gamble that no matter how much hue and cry his new strategy may provoke, in the end the American people will give him more time to turn around the war in Iraq and Congress will not have the political nerve to thwart him by cutting off money for the war.

Let’s be very clear here. Mr Bu$h welcomes confrontation because it strengthens his “gut-think” that he is right – every time, all the time. And many people say that it feeds his Messianic delusions by calling to mind the biblical phrase about prophets having no honor in their own lands.

The White House orchestrated an elaborate rollout for the speech, including a presidential briefing for network news anchors before Mr. Bush addressed the nation. On Thursday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates are scheduled to appear at a news conference before testifying on Capitol Hill — a show of cabinet comity that might have been unthinkable when Donald H. Rumsfeld was still at the Pentagon.

Perhaps little noticed by the national news media, who – lets be honest here – are incapable of complex thought, is the fact that in addition to the full-court public relations press organized by the front office of the White House, there is also a campaign being conducted by Mr Cheney’s back office.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Iran Policy Committee is holding a press conference on Thursday, 11 January 2007, at 10:00 am in the Murrow Room at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Members of the Iran Policy Committee will review various policy options regarding President Bush's 10 January 2007 Address on Iraq and release a White Paper introducing a political complement to the proposed American military troop surge to Iraq.

President Bush is suggesting a surge of U.S. Forces in Iraq and corresponding political benchmarks for the government of Iraq to become more inclusive. Yet, the government of Prime Minister Maliki has failed to meet such milestones in the past and is unlikely to do so in the future because of the influence of Tehran on Baghdad. As the Iranian regime works to increase sectarian strife in Iraq, new analysis by the Iran Policy Committee suggests a role for the Iranian opposition in Iraq to build a national compact among the Iraqi factions.

Now, why would “Iran Policy Committee” be making public statements about Iraq? And commenting that Prime Minister Maliki won’t be able to meet milestones in the future?

Because Iran is now the enemy. Iran delenda est.

The Iran Policy Committee is a front group started up two years ago by Mr Cheney’s little elves at OSD, or whatever they’re calling it now.

The Iran Policy Committee (IPC), formed in January 2005, is a pressure group meant to influence US government policy towards Iran. IPC is made up of former White House, State Department, Pentagon and CIA officials. Several of the principals are affiliated to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and its related think tanks.

Paul Craig Roberts pointed this out yesterday in CounterPunch [honest warning: there is some tinfoil thought in this article]

Is the surge an orchestrated distraction from the real war plan?

A good case can be made that it is. The US Congress and media are focused on President Bush's proposal for an increase of 20,000 US troops in Iraq, while Israel and its American neoconservative allies prepare an assault on Iran.

Commentators have expressed puzzlement over President Bush's appointment of a US Navy admiral as commander in charge of the ground wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The appointment makes sense only if the administration's attention has shifted from the insurgencies to an attack on Iran.

The Bush administration has recently doubled its aircraft carrier forces and air power in the Persian Gulf. According to credible news reports, the Israeli air force has been making practice runs in preparation for an attack on Iran.

Recently, Israeli military and political leaders have described Israeli machinations to manipulate the American public and their representatives into supporting or joining an Israeli assault on Iran.

Two US carrier task forces or strike groups will certainly congest the Persian Gulf. On January 9 a US nuclear sub collided with a Japanese tanker in the Persian Gulf. Two carrier groups will have scant room for maneuver. Their purpose is either to provide the means for a hard hit on Iran or to serve as sitting ducks for a new Pearl Harbor that would rally Americans behind the new war.

Suggesting that US warships would be moved into perilous waters as a tempting target is a frightening thought. War is not a game of chess, where the sacrifice of a bishop might gain a pinning check on your opponent’s king. We are talking about humans here, flesh, blood, dreams, hopes. But yet a sensible reading of the last four years leads to no other conclusion than that Iran is the real target because of its unique geographic position athwart the trade routes from the oil-rich Middle East to the West.

Possession of Iraqi oil is useless without possession of Iran’s geography.

And lest anyone think this escalation is really about the resistance in Irag, the BBC is reporting this morning that US forces attacked the Iranian consulate in Irbil, in Kurdistan. That’s right. We have committed an act of war against Iran.

US forces have stormed an Iranian consulate in the northern Iraqi town of Irbil and seized six members of staff.

The troops raided the building at about 0300 (0001GMT), taking away computers and papers, according to Kurdish media and senior local officials.

The US military would only confirm the detention of six people around Irbil.

Hang on tight, because it’s going to be a bumpy ride.