Wild About Larry

It’s always a strange feeling when hot-to-trot prosecutors leak news of a big case only to find insufficient evidence for the most damaging charges. So that the Justice Department was unable to uncover enough dirt to demonstrate former Pentagon analyst Larry Franklin provided Israel with classified documents on Iran is perhaps really fitting.

All the U.S. Attorney can offer us now is that Franklin had lunch in June of 2003 with two former employees of AIPAC. And that he might have talked about Iran because of Defense Department fears the Iranians planned to launch attacks on US troops in Iraq. No proof exists any of this fell into the hands of the Israeli government or natch, Ahmed Chalabi. But the fact that the initial disclosure of the investigation started with more serious allegations…and that the FBI made two visits to AIPAC’s offices to collect evidence suggests this might be a head fake.

Consider the neocons. Richard Perle is now on the rubber chicken circuit. Paul Wolfowitz has been exiled to the World Bank. Scooter Libby is one step away from being indicted for leaking Valerie Plame’s name to Bob Novak. John Bolton is being ushered toward the meaningless role of US Ambassador to the UN, and Doug Feith has said he will be leaving his role at the Pentagon shortly. In other words, the Franklin non-indictment ties up all the loose ends.

Or does it?

When Richard Perle wrote “A Clean Break” in 1987, he summarized that the US should effect regime change in Iraq, Syria, and Iran in that order. Given the highly suspect cause of the Hariri car bombing in Lebanon and the disingenuous retreat by Syrian forces there, it seems like Israel really wants to know how much progress the US is making to proof Iran has nuclear weapons justifying a preemptive strike. Part of the allegation is that Franklin advocated a hard line against Iran and felt he needed AIPAC’s help to ratchet up pressure on the Administration to see it his way.

So is the “Flight of the NeoCons” preparing the way for a strike on Iran (as promised by former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter)? Is this really about Act Two of the “Bush Doctrine”? It’s clear that Bush is cleaning house and that he’s probably not wild about Larry Franklin.