US plans for Iran strike ready

* 'Pentagon able to strike in the spring'

Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: US preparations for an air strike against Iran are at an
advanced stage, in spite of repeated public denials by the Bush
administration, informed sources in Washington told the Guardian
newspaper.

Ewen MacAskill writes in the Guardian: "The present military build-up
in the Gulf would allow the US to mount an attack by the spring. But
the sources said that if there was an attack, it was more likely next
year, just before Mr Bush leaves office."

Neo-conservatives, particularly at the Washington-based American
Enterprise Institute (AEI), are urging Mr Bush to open a new front
against Iran. So too is Vice President ***** Cheney. The State
Department and the Pentagon are opposed, as are Democratic congressmen
and most Republicans. The sources said Mr Bush had not yet made a
decision. The Bush administration insists the military build-up is not
offensive but aimed at containing Iran and forcing it to make
diplomatic concessions. The aim is to persuade Tehran to curb its
suspect nuclear weapons programme and abandon ambitions for regional
expansion.

Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, said on Friday: "I don't know
how many times the president, secretary [of state Condoleezza] Rice
and I have had to repeat that we have no intention of attacking Iran."
But Vincent Cannistraro, a Washington-based intelligence analyst,
shared the sources' assessment that Pentagon planning was well under
way. "Planning is going on, in spite of public disavowals by Gates.
Targets have been selected. For a bombing campaign against nuclear
sites, it is quite advanced. The military assets to carry this out are
being put in place."

He added: "We are planning for war. It is incredibly dangerous." Mr
Cannistraro, who worked for the CIA and the National Security Council,
stressed that no decision had been made. Last month Mr Bush ordered a
second battle group led by the aircraft carrier USS John Stennis to
the Gulf in support of the USS Eisenhower. The USS Stennis is due to
arrive within 10 days. Extra US Patriot missiles have been sent to the
region, as well as more minesweepers, in anticipation of Iranian
retaliatory action.

In another sign that preparations are under way, Mr Bush has ordered
oil reserves to be stockpiled.

The danger is that the build-up could spark an accidental war. Iranian
officials said on Thursday that they had tested missiles capable of
hitting warships in the Gulf.

Colonel Sam Gardiner, a former air force officer who has carried out
war games with Iran as the target, supported the view that planning
for an air strike was under way: "Gates said there is no planning for
war. We know this is not true. He possibly meant there is no plan for
an immediate strike. It was sloppy wording.

"All the moves being made over the last few weeks are consistent with
what you would do if you were going to do an air strike. We have to
throw away the notion the US could not do it because it is too tied up
in Iraq. It is an air operation."

One of the main driving forces behind war, apart from the vice-
president's office, is the AEI, headquarters of the neo-conservatives.
A member of the AEI coined the slogan "axis of evil" that originally
lumped Iran in with Iraq and North Korea. Its influence on the White
House appeared to be in decline last year amid endless bad news from
Iraq, for which it had been a cheerleader. But in the face of
opposition from Congress, the Pentagon and State Department, Mr Bush
opted last month for an AEI plan to send more troops to Iraq. Will he
support calls from within the AEI for a strike on Iran?

Josh Muravchik, a Middle East specialist at the AEI, is among its most
vocal supporters of such a strike.

"I do not think anyone in the US is talking about invasion. We have
been chastened by the experience of Iraq, even a hawk like myself."
But an air strike was another matter. The danger of Iran having a
nuclear weapon "is not just that it might use it out of the blue but
as a shield to do all sorts of mischief. I do not believe there will
be any way to stop this happening other than physical force."

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C02%5C11%5Cstory_11-

-2007_pg1_1