The pretext for the attack on Iran has now been set

with a warning by (who else?) Israeli intelligence about a possible attack by Hezbollah :

Israel has warned European and American intelligence bodies of possible attempts by Hizbullah cells, led by Imad Mugniyah, to carry out terror attacks during the upcoming World Cup tournament in Germany, the Saudi Al-Watan newspaper reported on Friday.



According to the report, the terror plot is aimed at proving to the international community that Tehran is capable of retaliation if attacked.


Sources in Washington said a joint US-European operations room has been set up to deal with such a scenario; to this end, two American
aircraft carriers, along with a French ship are making their way to the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf.


US officials opposed to an attack on Iran fear the Bush Administration would take advantage of such terror attacks to launch an offensive that, according to the officials, would settle the Iranian nuclear crisis and boost the president’s approval rating.


The officials added that should the terror attacks be masterminded by a third party, they would still be used to justify an attack on Iran.

I will refer back to the August 2005 Deep Background column by former CIA official Philip Giraldi writing for the American Conservative:

In Washington it is hardly a secret that the same people in and around the administration who brought you Iraq are preparing to do the same for Iran. The Pentagon, acting under instructions from Vice President Dick Cheney’s office, has tasked the United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM) with drawing up a contingency plan to be employed in response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States. The plan includes a large-scale air assault on Iran employing both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons. Within Iran there are more than 450 major strategic targets, including numerous suspected nuclear-weapons-program development sites. Many of the targets are hardened or are deep underground and could not be taken out by conventional weapons, hence the nuclear option. As in the case of Iraq, the response is not conditional on Iran actually being involved in the act of terrorism directed against the United States. Several senior Air Force officers involved in the planning are reportedly appalled at the implications of what they are doing—that Iran is being set up for an unprovoked nuclear attack—but no one is prepared to damage his career by posing any objections.

The Israeli government and their cohorts in America - AIPAC and the neocons - want America to strike Iran. They WILL get their way, they almost always do.