Speedboating into the cataract

Well, well, what a surprise. The tale of the Iranian speedboats hurtling toward U.S. warships threatening suicidal mayhem and dropping scary ‘white boxes’ into the water turns out to have been a total hoax.

I am deeply shocked.

And just when I was settling in to enjoy the reports on Bush’s stay at the Emirates Palace Hotel and all the neat jewel-encrusted ceremonial swords he’s getting from the emirs.

Luckily, Bush is an invited guest. If he were paying for his suite, Bernancke would have to recalculate next week’s interest rates.

IPS reports in full Wednesday about all the contradictions, denials and dismissals of the supposed speedboat incident coming from WITHIN the Pentagon and the Navy. I won’t repeat them except to note that despite having been fed a steady diet of blatant lies for seven years, U.S. news organs remain staggeringly eager to slurp up any narrative that will give them a few moments of on-air breathlessness.

No matter if it’s all b.s. 48 hours later—just on to the next fairy tale!

Análisis, a Chilean magazine, carries an interview with a diplomat who was that country’s ambassador to the UN in the run-up to the Iraq war. Chile sat on the Security Council at the time. He runs down all the disastrous things that people insisted would likely (and in fact, did) happen if Bush went forward with his wacko plan.

The Chileans are hardly known for their valiant resistance to U.S. influence, but this diplomat describes how even they balked at going along with the hare-brained American scheme.

He adds that even though things look bad for the lamest duck since James Buchanan, he still fears that worse news may yet follow. I take this to mean that the Bushites are still determined to start a new war with Iran, despite growing opposition to it within the armed forces.

Twilight Highlights: W’s hilarious toadying to the loathesome Mubarak in Egypt recalls his father’s diplomatic grovel 20 years ago when he toasted Philippine dictator Marcos and praised his ‘commitment to democracy.’ These guys couldn’t spot a republic if it ran up and bit them in the hindquarters.