This could just be an election ploy
Reader comment on item: That NIE Makes War against Iran More Likely

Submitted by Ken Besig (Israel), Dec 13, 2007 at 12:56

I wholly agree with Dr. Pipe's analysis of the NIE report on Iran's nuclear weapons development and it's potential outcomes.

However I believe that this report is also a Bush election ploy designed to remove a difficult foreign political,diplomatic, and military problem from the 2008 election equation. I also see the so called troop surge in Iraq as serving the same purpose, that is, to bring a greaer degree of quiet to Iraq, thus removing an unpopular and difficult foreign problem from the upcoming election debate. I believe that even the recent Annapolis summit was intended to serve the Bush domestic election agenda, not to bring peace to Israel and the Arabs.

By taking Iran, Iraq, and possibly even the Israeli Arab conflict off the election table, the Republican nominee for President, as well as the Republican candidates for Congress and the Senate, can concentrate their forces on domestic problems and policies and perhaps even recover from the electoral hammering the Republicans took last year.

I admit I could well be wrong, but to my lasting regret I have underestimated George Bush's political talents in the past. With or without Karl Rove, President George Bush is a brilliant political strategist who has managed to win two consecutive presidential elections against overwhelming odds, and while he is not running in the 2008 contest, he has a whole year to lay the groundwork for a possible Republican victory.

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