George Bush - The Most Dangerous Man in the World

In the current New Yorker, Seymour Hersh details plans, including the use of nuclear weapons, being made by the Bush Administration for a major attack on Iran.

A government consultant with close ties to the civilian leadership in the Pentagon said that Bush was “absolutely convinced that Iran is going to get the bomb” if it is not stopped. He said that the President believes that he must do “what no Democrat or Republican, if elected in the future, would have the courage to do,” and “that saving Iran is going to be his legacy.”

Bush's dismal approval rating actually free him to do pretty much whatever he wants to do for the next eight months. The only potential check on the unfettered use of military force anywhere he wants is a Democratic congress after the November elections.

As long as Republicans and Vichy Democrats support Bush's aggressive plans and good vs. evil worldview, there is no Constitutional check on Bush's authority to go to war with any country he decides to make war upon. Combined with this lack of any congressional oversight, is the fact that Bush and other high ranking members of his administration believe that history, not contemporary political events, is their judge. Lack of Constitutional oversight, a view that history is their only judge, combined with Bush's inability to admit error and a messianic world view leave Bush free to act.

The House member said that no one in the meetings “is really objecting” to the talk of war. “The people they’re briefing are the same ones who led the charge on Iraq. At most, questions are raised: How are you going to hit all the sites at once? How are you going to get deep enough?” (Iran is building facilities underground.) “There’s no pressure from Congress” not to take military action, the House member added. “The only political pressure is from the guys who want to do it.” Speaking of President Bush, the House member said, “The most worrisome thing is that this guy has a messianic vision.”

A messiah complex and nuclear weapons. Does anyone think this is going to end well?

UPDATE: Mahablog gives us 10 reasons to "be very afraid." Number 6 is a pip:

6. A senior Pentagon adviser on the war on terror said: “This White House believes that the only way to solve the problem is to change the power structure in Iran, and that means war.”

UPDATE 2: The Washington Post seems to think Bush is serious. Maybe we should all take destroying the world seriously.

Preparations for confrontation with Iran underscore how the issue has vaulted to the front of President Bush's agenda even as he struggles with a relentless war in next-door Iraq. Bush views Tehran as a serious menace that must be dealt with before his presidency ends, aides said, and the White House, in its new National Security Strategy, last month labeled Iran the most serious challenge to the United States posed by any country.

Many military officers and specialists, however, view the saber rattling with alarm. A strike at Iran, they warn, would at best just delay its nuclear program by a few years but could inflame international opinion against the United States, particularly in the Muslim world and especially within Iran, while making U.S. troops in Iraq targets for retaliation.