Jerusalem Post scrubbed its first version of that article

[Mark Crispin Miller]

Well, it turns out that the piece I just sent out--from the on-line edition of the

Jerusalem Post, about Bush/Cheney's plans for war against Iran before Election

Day--was a revision of another, blunter piece.

Here, first, is Danny Postel's email about it, and then a copy of the prior article:

There was an article on the Jerusalem Post website this morning titled "'Bush

intends to attack Iran before the end of his term'" which was widely circulated

on various listservs. The White House issued a denial of the story.

Interestingly, the Jerusalem Post, rather than simply run a follow-up piece

reporting the White House's denial, or expanding the existing article, seems

to have outright replaced the original piece with a new one. The link for

the original piece now yields the new, substitute piece with the title "White

House denies Iran attack report."

Where is the original piece? I can't find it online anywhere else in its original

form, though I do have a copy in my e-mail -- if anyone would like to see it,

let me know and I'll forward it.

Danny

dpo...@iwj.org

'Bush intends to attack Iran before the end of his term'

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JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST May. 20, 2008

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www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1210668683139&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

US President George W. Bush intends to attack Iran in the upcoming months, before the end of his term, Army Radio quoted a senior official in Jerusalem as saying Tuesday.

The official claimed that a senior member of the president's entourage, which concluded a trip to Israel last week, said during a closed meeting that Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were of the opinion that military action was called for.

However, the official continued, "the hesitancy of Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice" was preventing the administration from deciding to launch such an attack on the Islamic Republic, for the time being.

The report stated that according to assessments in Israel, recent turmoil in Lebanon, where Hizbullah de facto established control of the country, was advancing an American attack.

Bush, the officials said, opined that Hizbullah's show of strength was evidence of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's growing influence. They said that according to Bush, "the disease must be treated - not its symptoms."

In an address to the Knesset during his visit here last week, Bush said that "the president of Iran dreams of returning the Middle East to the Middle Ages."

"America stands with you in firmly opposing Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions," Bush said. "Permitting the world's leading sponsor of terror to possess the world's deadliest weapon would be an unforgivable betrayal of future generations. For the sake of peace, the world must not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon."