That sentiment has been echoed, in various ways, by other long-time Team Bush members such as former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger, present Mid-East envoy General Anthony Zinni and House Majority Leader Dick Armey.

But the No-War Group is up against a tough and determined opponent: the Pro-War Neocons (neo-conservatives) led by Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and his acolytes sprinkled throughout the executive branch. This group is guided - from outside the administration - by Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol, who has seeded the White House staff with his followers and fellow believers. And Defense Policy Board Chairman Richard Perle, a Reagan Administration veteran, is also a key player.

These two groups - the Pro-War and the No-War - are at war over the soul of the G.W. Bush Presidency.

And the winner of that war will determine the fate of the Bush Presidency.

But the Pro-War Neocons have a bigger agenda than merely "regime change" in Baghdad. They also want to depose the rotten Saudi Royal Family in Ryadh and go "to the heart" of terrorism: Saudi funding fueled by oil profits. And, while they're at it, they'd like to permanently protect Israel by 'de-fanging' the Palestinians spewing suicide bombers on from the West Bank.

Here are the recent dots. Let's connect them:

1) The 'leak' of the now-infamous Perle-led Defense Policy Board briefing by the Rand Corporation briefer who claimed Saudi Arabia is our enemy and we should seize their oil field and freeze their American bank accounts.

2) The sudden appearance - ten months after we took over Afghanistan - of a videotape showing the horrible gassing of a cute little dog.

3) The trillion-dollar lawsuit filed against Saudi Arabia by the families of some of the victims of the 9/11 attacks. This lawsuit, too, urges that Saudi assets invested inside the United States should be frozen.

4) The leaked stories about Iraq's use of chemical weapons in the Iran-Iraq War - twenty years ago.

5) The repeatedly leaked 'reports' of Saddam's use of chemical and biological weapons should a war with the United States begin.

6) Israel's dispensing antidotes and iodine pills - just in case Saddam launches Scuds again.

What do all these stories have in common?

They are clues into the war plans of the Pro-War Neocons. Their plan is not to merely take out the Ba'ath Party leadership in Baghdad; no, they intend to "do it all" in one fell swoop.

That means a simultaneous attack on Iraq and on Saudi Arabia. The Saudi oil fields will be seized, the Royal Family deposed, the oppressed Saudi people liberated from generations of tyrannical rule - and the money that greases world-wide terror attacks would be stopped on the spot.

Israel, too, may join this offensive by sweeping through the West Bank and Gaza and clean out all advocates of terror.

That is the Pro-War Neocons plan.

How to get such a war started?

Connect the dots! The gas we saw used on dogs is suddenly used by Iraq on some GI's and when video is shown to the American people of our guys dying a horrible death you can bet there will be a firestorm of anger demanding immediate war with Iraq.

What if Iraq refuses to be baited into starting this war?

Well, the Gulf of Tonkin attack on the USS Turner Joy - if it really happened at all - was the result of repeated American provocation. We wanted to be attacked!

Could this be what the Pro-War Neocons are planning now?

John LeBoutillier is a former U.S. Congressman and a nationally recognized political commentator. He has been a frequent guest on many national talk show programs and is author of the book Harvard Hates America. He is a regular columnist for Ether Zone.

John LeBoutillier can be reached at: johnlebout@johnlebout.com

He keeps an archive of his articles at: JohnLeBout.com

Published in the September 6, 2002 issue of  Ether Zone.
Copyright © 1997 - 2002 Ether Zone.

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