September 4, 2004 (LPAC)--The removal of Karl Rove from the White House gives Dick Cheney an open field for launching war against Iran, is the conclusion of intelligence veteran Ray McGovern, drawing on what he calls one of the most important tools of intelligence experts: the open media. Writing in Arab American News Commentary, McGovern, who helped found Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), to counter the falsification of intelligence prior to the Iraq invasion in 2003, pulls together threads of media reports which indicate that, with Rove out, Cheney's Iran war is "on."

First, McGovern writes that former CIA analyst Phil Geraldi, in his weekly "Deep Background" feature in The American Conservative, had noted that Rove acted as an effective counter to Cheney within the White House, specifically on the Iran question. Retired Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowsky, writing on LewRockwell.com, also mentions this, after noting that Rove went so far as to try and remove Cheney from the Bush slate during the 2004 election race. "In short," says McGovern, "it seems a good bet that Rove, who is no one's dummy and would not want to have to "spin" an unnecessary war on Iran, lost the battle with Cheney over the merits of a military strike on Iran."