BUSH "PLANS IRAN AIR STRIKE" BY AUGUST

From a man with the unlikely name of Mohammed Cohen, at the Asia Times:

The George W Bush administration plans to launch an air strike against Iran within the next two
months, an informed source tells Asia Times Online, echoing other reports that
have surfaced in the media in the United States recently.

Two key US senators briefed on the attack planned to go public with their
opposition to the move, according to the source, but their projected New York
Times op-ed piece has yet to appear.

The source, a retired US career diplomat and former assistant secretary
of state still active in the foreign affairs community, speaking anonymously,
said last week that that the US plans an air strike against the Iranian
Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

The air strike would target the headquarters of the IRGC's elite Quds
force. With an estimated strength of up to 90,000 fighters, the Quds' stated
mission is to spread Iran's revolution of 1979 throughout the region.

Targets could include IRGC garrisons in southern and southwestern Iran,
near the border with Iraq. US officials have repeatedly claimed Iran is aiding
Iraqi insurgents. In January 2007, US forces raided the Iranian consulate
general in Erbil, Iraq, arresting five staff members, including two Iranian
diplomats it held until November.

Last September, the US Senate approved a resolution by a vote of 76-22
urging President George W Bush to declare the IRGC a terrorist organization.

Following this non-binding "sense of the senate" resolution, the White
House declared sanctions against the Quds Force as a terrorist group in October.
The Bush administration has also accused Iran of pursuing a nuclear weapons
program, though most intelligence analysts say the program has been
abandoned.

An attack on Iraq would fit the Bush administration's declared policy
on Iraq. Administration officials questioned directly about military action
against Iran routinely assert that "all options remain on the table".