False Start For War Profiteers

There's a telling paragraph in this report from Reuters [emphasis added]:
U.S. officials say rumor of Iran strike not true:

WASHINGTON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - U.S. defense officials on Thursday said a rumored Iranian missile strike on a U.S. naval vessel in the Gulf was not true.

'No such event took place,' said one of the officials on condition of anonymity.

This is too bad, because a lot of people were getting ready to make a lot of money.

The bond market briefly pared losses on talk of possible military engagement between the United States and Iran, but turned back down after the Defense Department said the incident did not occur.

Oops! Sorry about your luck, assholes! Maybe next time.

Tensions are high between Washington and Tehran. The United States accuses Iran of supporting insurgents in Iraq and charges that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian energy program.

Reuters conveniently neglects to mention that the US has provided no evidence to support any of the allegations that have been made against Iran. So it's not surprising that they also fail to mention the evidence provided by the IAEA which indicates that the Bush administration has been lying about such things.

The Pentagon has increased the U.S. military presence in the Gulf in recent weeks, a move widely seen as a warning against provocative actions by Iran.

Well, I guess it all depends on what you mean by "widely" ... and I suppose the Oval Office is fairly wide.

But listen: the rest of the world sees this move as a provocative, aggressive step by the USA in its ongoing and none-too-subtle campaign to start a war against Iran. But Reuters is not about to tell you that either.

And this is why we have bloggers.