Published: 20/01/2007 12:00 AM (UAE)
US plans envision broad attack on Iran, says analyst
Agencies
Washington & Tehran: US contingency planning for military action
against Iran's nuclear programme goes beyond limited strikes and would
effectively unleash a war against the country, a former US intelligence
analyst said on Friday.
"I've seen some of the planning ... You're not talking about a surgical
strike," said Wayne White, who was a top Middle East analyst for the
State Department's bureau of intelligence and research until March
2005.
"You're talking about a war against Iran" that likely would destabilise
the Middle East for years, White told the Middle East Policy Council, a
Washington think tank.
"We're not talking about just surgical strikes against an array of
targets inside Iran. We're talking about clearing a path to the
targets" by taking out much of the Iranian Air Force, Kilo submarines,
anti-ship missiles that could target commerce or U.S. warships in the
Gulf, and maybe even Iran's ballistic missile capability, White said.
"I'm much more worried about the consequences of a US or Israeli attack
against Iran's nuclear infrastructure," which would prompt vigorous
Iranian retaliation, he said, than civil war in Iraq, which could be
confined to that country.
President George W. Bush has stressed he is seeking a diplomatic
solution to the dispute over Iran's nuclear programme.
But he has not taken the military option off the table and his recent
rhetoric, plus tougher financial sanctions and actions against Iranian
involvement in Iraq, has revived talk in Washington about a possible US
attack on Iran.
Middle East expert Kenneth Katzman argued "Iran's ascendancy is not
only manageable but reversible" if one understands the Islamic
republic's many vulnerabilities.
Tehran's leaders have convinced many experts Iran is a great nation
verging on "superpower" status, but the country is "very weak ... (and)
meets almost no known criteria to be considered a great nation," said
Katzman of the Library of Congress' Congressional Research Service.
The economy is mismanaged and "quite primitive," exporting almost
nothing except oil, he said.
Also, Iran's oil production capacity is fast declining and in terms of
conventional military power, "Iran is a virtual non-entity," Katzman
added.
The administration, therefore, should not go out of its way to
accommodate Iran because the country is in no position to hurt the
United States, and at some point "it might be useful to call that
bluff," he said.
But Katzman cautioned against early confrontation with Iran and said if
there is a "grand bargain" that meets both countries' interests, that
should be pursued.
But Democratic leaders in Congress warned the White House on Friday not
to launch an attack against Iran without first seeking approval from
lawmakers.
"The president does not have the authority to launch military action in
Iran without first seeking congressional authorization," Senate
Democratic leader Harry Reid told the National Press Club.
Reid's comments on Iran were the latest Democratic display of concern
about possible military action in that country and Bush's power to
launch it.
Meanwhile, Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said the nation's
armed forces are ready to face any threat to its nuclear installations,
local media reported on Saturday.
"The Islamic republic's armed forces are completely ready to confront
any probable threats by the enemies," Larijani was quoted as saying
Thursday after meeting top clerics in the religious center of Qom.
However, he downplayed the possibility of Iranian nuclear facilities
being hit, insisting "Our enemies do not have such power."
"Our enemies have waged a psychological war in order to make us retreat
from our nuclear positions," he said.
http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Iran/10098195.html
If you haven't accessed my blog special report on UFOs and the naval
buildup yet, please click on over and take a look! I worked my lil'
butt off on it! I'm so damn tired. It was like an orgasm. LOL! ;))~
All that surveillance I detail isn't just for kicks...it's the
systematic groundwork for a full-scale attack. Bush hopes to redefine
his failed Mideast policy by opening a second war front. Somalia, Iran,
and Syria...Syria has repeatedly said that, if Iran's attacked, they
would by mutual agreement, come to its aid. A growing number of nervous
Gulf nation leaders are urging high-level US talks with Iran to defuse
the rampage toward another reckless futile war, much costlier than the
other two combined...just weeks away...moving at breakneck speed toward
a fateful collision this Spring. Keep your gas tanks topped off!
http://hotroastednewz.blogspot.com
Dr. Bipolar
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