Israel's ultra-right Arutz Sheva [8] this week is virtually alone in having noted a commentary by "columnist" Gordon Duff [9] in Iran's semi-official Press TV [10] Oct. 29 positing that Rear Admiral Charles M. Gaouette—sacked from his command of a Pacific carrier battle group to face an investigation into "inappropriate leadership judgment"—was planning a military "mutiny" to "topple Obama" in the event of his re-election. Duff asserts that all US military bases at home and abroad were placed on a state of alert in response to the threat. Writes Duff:
The decision was made based on a conversation with the Secretary of Defense who, at the end of the talk, believed Gaouette was part of a group of military officers who have been under suspicion for planning a "Seven Days in May" type overthrow of the US government if President Obama is re-elected.
This is not conjecture, dozens of key officers face firing, hundreds are under investigation, all with direct ties to extremist elements in the Republican Party and the Israeli lobby.
Reports received are sourced at the highest levels of the Pentagon and indicate that the administration has been aware of these plans for months.
Note obligatory reference to the Israel Lobby, which explains why bitter rivals Press TV and Arutz Sheva both zeroed in on this theory. AP [11] did cover Gaouette getting the boot on Oct. 27, noting that in an "unusual move," he had been ordered back from the Middle East, where he was commanding the USS John C. Stennis strike group, to his homeport at Bremerton, Wash., where he remains "pending the results of an investigation by the Navy Inspector General."
Duff also claims there was a general purge of high-level officers along with Gaouette, implying a far-reaching plot. Vermont's Bennington Banner [12] on Nov. 15 also noted that there was a shake-up, in which Africa Command chief Gen. Carter Ham [13] "was precipitously scheduled for early retirement," presumably due to the Benghazi affair [14].
Duff cites some supposed precedents, including a purported putsch attempt against Bush in 2007, when a handful of nukes briefly fell into the hands of rogue officers at Minot Air Force Base [15] in North Dakota—although he fails to explain the politics behind the putative plot.
Seven Days in May [16] was a 1964 movie about a right-wing military coup in the US, although similar scenarios drove Sinclair Lewis' 1935 novel It Can't Happen Here [17] and Jack London's 1908 The Iron Heel [18]. (Also Robert A. Heinlein 1940 If This Goes On [19] and Philip K. Dick's posthumous Radio Free Albemuth [20].) There was also a definitely very real plan for a military coup against FDR in 1933—see the Smedley Butler affair [21].
We will note the similar paranoia [22] that occassioned the presidential transition four years ago.
Now, we don't want to rain on your parade, conspiranoids, but this Gordon Duff also seems to be on the UFO bandwagon [23]. (It does appear to be the same Gordon Duff.) He's also broached notions of a domestic nuclear terror attack [24] as a "false flag" to blame on Iran. (A perennial fave [25] of the conspiranoia set.) Gee, thanks.
In an at least slightly more plausible anti-Obama intrigue, conspiracies over manipulation of the price of oil [26] have suddenly hit the mainstream. From Reuters [27], Nov. 27:
WASHINGTON — Six U.S. senators on Tuesday called for the U.S. Justice Department to investigate whether market manipulation by West Coast oil refiners contributed to a price spike in May and October that sent gasoline prices to record highs above $5 a gallon.
The senators, all Democrats, want the Justice Department to conduct a "refinery-by-refinery probe" and subpoena records from California refineries to see whether public reports of maintenance shutdowns were accurate. Two of the state's largest refiners are Valero Energy Corp and Tesoro Corp.
May to October. Cute, huh? Was someone intentionally inflating the price of gas to hurt Obama's chances? Here, the price at the pump appears to have escalated independent of the international oil price, which remains at around $87 per barrel (AP [28], Nov. 28), down from $125 a barrel at the start of the year [29]. And it seems to have been a strictly regional phenomenon. One to watch...
