[NYTr] "We Are Going To Hit Iran. Bigtime"

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

[One of those long, unattributed anonymous tales, but this one's worth
reading. -NYTr]

sent by Mark Graffis (activ-l)

KOS - Sep 1, 2007
http://www.dailykos.com:80/storyonly/2007/9/1/183018/1527

"We Are Going To Hit Iran. Bigtime"

by Maccabee

I have a friend who is an LSO on a carrier attack group that is
planning and staging a strike group deployment into the Gulf of Hormuz.
(LSO: Landing Signal Officer- she directs carrier aircraft while
landing) She told me we are going to attack Iran. She said that all the
Air Operation Planning and Asset Tasking are finished. That means that
all the targets have been chosen, prioritized, and tasked to specific
aircraft, bases, carriers, missile cruisers and so forth.

I asked her why she is telling me this.

Her answer was really amazing.

  a.. Maccabee's diary :: ::
  b..
She started in the Marines and after 8 years her term was up. She had
served on a smaller Marine carrier, and found out through a friend knew
there was an opening for a junior grade LSO in a training position on a
supercarrier. She used the reference and the information and applied
for a transfer to the United States Navy. Since she had experience
landing F-18Cs and Cobra Gunships, and an unblemished combat record,
she was ratcheted into the job, successfully changing from the Marines
to the Navy. Her role is still aligned with the Marines since she
generally is assigned to liason with the Marine units deploying off her
carrier group.

Like most Marines and former Marines, she is largely apolitical. The
fact is, most Marines are trigger pullers and most trigger pullers
could care less who the President is. They simply want to be the tip of
the sword when it comes to defending the country. She voted once in her
life and otherwise was always in some forward post on the water during
election season.

Something is wrong with the Navy and the Marines in her view. Always
ready to go in harms way, Marines rarely ever question unless its a
matter of tactics or honor. But something seems awry. Junior and senior
officers are starting to grumble, roll their eyes in the hallways. The
strain of deployments is beginning to hit every jot and tittle of the
Marines and its beginning to seep into the daily conversation of
Marines and Naval officers in command decision.

"I know this will sound crazy coming from a Naval officer", she said.
"But were all just waiting for this administration to end. Things that
happen at the senior officer level seem more and more to happen outside
of the purview of XOs and other officers who typically have a say-so in
daily combat and flight operations. Today, orders just come down from
the mountaintop and theres no questioning. In fact, there is no
discussing it.  I have seen more than one senior commander disappear
and then three weeks later we find out that he has been replaced. Thats
really weird. Its also really weird because everyone who has
disappeared has questioned whether or not we should be staging a
massive attack on Iran."

"Were not stupid. Most of the members of the fleet read well enough to
know what is going on world-wise. We also realize that anyone who has
any doubts is in danger of having a long military career yanked out
from under them. Keep in mind that most of the people I serve with are
happy to be a part of the global war on terror. Its just that the touch
points are what we see since we are the ones out here who are
supposedly implementing this grand strategy. But when you liason with
administration officials who dont know that Iranians dont speak Arabic
and have no idea what Iranians live like, then you start having second
thoughts about whether these Administration officials are even
competent."

I asked her about the attack, how limited and so forth.

"I dont think its limited at all. We are shipping in and assigning every
damn Tomahawk we have in inventory. I think this is going to be massive
and sudden, like thousands of targets. I believe that no American will
know when it happens until after it happens. And whatever the
consequences, whatever the consequences, they will have to be lived
with. I am sure if my father knew I was telling someone in a news
organization that we were about to launch a supposedly secret attack
that it would be treason. But something inside me tells me to tell it
anyway."

I asked her why she was suddenly so cynical.

"I have become cynical only recently. I also dont believe anyone will
be able to stop this. Bush has become something of an Emperor.  He will
give the command, and cruise missiles will fly and aircraft will fly
and people will die, and yet few of us here are really able to cobble
together a great explanation of why this is a good idea. Of course many
of us can give you the 4H Club lecture on democracy in the Mid East.
But if you asked any of the flight officers whether they have a clear
idea of what the goal of this strike is, your answer would sound like
something out of a think tank policy paper. But its not like Kosovo or
when we relieved the tsunami victims. There everyone could tell you in
a sentence what we were here doing."

"Thats whats missing. A real sense of purpose. Whats missing is the
answer to what the hell are we doing out here threatening this country
with all this power? Last night in the galley, an ensign asked what
right do we have to tell a sovereign nation that they cant build a
nuke. I mean the table got EF Hutton quiet. Not so much because the man
was asking a question that was off culture. But that he was asking a
good question. In fact, the discussion actually followed afterwards
topside where someone in our group had to smoke a cigarette. The
discussion was intelligent but also in lowered voices. Its like we
arent allowed to ask the questions that we always ask before combat.
Its almost as if the average seaman or soldier is doing all the policy
work."

She had to hang up. She left by telling me that she believes the attack
is a done deal. "Its only a matter of time before their orders come and
they will be sent to station and told to go to Red Alert. She said they
were already practicing traps, FARP and FAST." (Trapping is the act of
catching the tension wires when landing on the carrier, FARP is Fleet
Air Combat Maneuvering Readiness Program- practice dogfighting- and
FAST is Fleet Air Superiority Training).

She seemed lost. The first time in my life I have ever heard her sound
off rhythm, or unsure of why she is doing something. She knows that
there is something rotten in the Naval Command and she, like many of
her associates are just hoping that the election brings in someone new,
some new situation, or something.

"Yes. We're gong to hit Iran, bigtime. Whatever political discussion
that are going in is window dressing and perhaps even a red herring. I
see what's going on below deck here in the hangars and weapons bays.
And I have a sick feeling about how it's all going to turn out."