From our buddies at NIAC:

President Bush announced today that he has authorized US forces in Iraq to confront Iran militarily. “I have authorized our military commanders in Iraq to confront Tehran’s murderous activities,” Bush said in a speech to US war veterans in Reno. Simultaneously, US forces raided a hotel in Baghdad and detained ten Iranians who according to a U.S.-funded radio station included members of an Iranian negotiation team.

This move comes amidst a campaign by the White House to escalate the rhetorical war between Washington and Tehran, in which the President has taken concerted new steps toward war. This flurry of rhetoric has largely rung hollow in the halls of Congress, as members are away for summer recess.

While Congress has been gone, the harshness and frequency of the rhetoric from both sides has steadily increased. Last week the Bush administration announced its intention to designate the IRGC as a terrorist entity, an unprecedented move. This week in Reno, the President reiterated accusations that Iran was smuggling weapons into Iraq while chastising the Iraqi prime minister for his diplomatic relations with Iran. Left unchallenged, all these steps point in one, undeniable direction: War.

While apparently Iranian agents instigating the murder of our troops will usher in a new age of lollipops and unicorns for everyone. Notice how its never the Iranians who are escalating the chance of war, according to NIAC, despite the Iranian president’s increased belligerence, and how it declines to cast its eye on the human cost of the Mullah’s continued dominance. (h/t SIAD blog):

Mass public hanging, as well as secret executions in prisons, are routine in the tyrannical Islamic Republic of Iran. Recently Majid Kavousifar, 28, and his nephew, Hossein Kavousifar, 24, were hanged for the alleged murder of a hard-line judge, Hassan Moghaddas, who also was a deputy prosecutor and head of the “guidance” court in Tehran and notorious for jailing and condemning to death political dissidents. The victims were hanged from cranes and hoisted high above one of Tehran’s busiest thoroughfares. This “judge” had repeatedly bragged publicly that he often issued a death verdict without even examining the charges against the individual. The Islamic Republic of Iran has the dubious distinction of executing more children, those under the age of 18, than any other country in the world. Such is the plight of the Iranian people.

Don’t let your congressmen and senators be badgered by Regime apologists. Fortunately, NIAC has provided a very simple link to contact your representatives. Just enter in your zip code, and than of course change the pre-written drivel before sending.