Sunday, April 09, 2006 E-Mail this article to a friend Printer Friendly Version
US preparing to nuke Iran: American magazine
WASHINGTON: The administration of United States President Bush is planning a massive bombing campaign against Iran, including the use of bunker-buster nuclear bombs to destroy a key Iranian suspected nuclear weapons facility, The New Yorker magazine reported in its April 17 issue.
The article by investigative journalist Seymour Hersh said that Bush and others in the White House have come to view Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a potential Adolf Hitler.
“That’s the name they’re using,” the report quoted a former senior intelligence official as saying. A senior unnamed Pentagon adviser is quoted in the article as saying: “This White House believes that the only way to solve the problem is to change the power structure in Iran, and that means war.” The former intelligence official depicts planning as “enormous,” “hectic” and “operational,” Hersh writes.
One former defence official said that the military planning was premised on a belief that “a sustained bombing campaign in Iran will humiliate the religious leadership and lead the public to rise up and overthrow the government,” The New Yorker reported.
In recent weeks, President Bush has quietly initiated a series of talks on plans for Iran with a few key senators and members of the House of Representatives, including at least one Democrat, the report said. One of the options under consideration involves the possible use of a bunker-buster tactical nuclear weapon, such as the B61-11, to ensure the destruction of Iran’s main centrifuge plant at Natanz.
But the former senior intelligence official said that the attention given to the nuclear option has created serious misgivings inside the military, and some officers have talked about resigning after an attempt to remove the nuclear option from the evolving war plans in Iran failed, according to the report. “There are very strong sentiments within the military against brandishing nuclear weapons against other countries,” the magazine quotes the Pentagon adviser as saying.
The adviser warned that bombing Iran could provoke “a chain reaction” of attacks on American facilities and citizens throughout the world and might also reignite Hizbollah. afp
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default...9-4-2006_pg1_3
US preparing to nuke Iran: American magazine
WASHINGTON: The administration of United States President Bush is planning a massive bombing campaign against Iran, including the use of bunker-buster nuclear bombs to destroy a key Iranian suspected nuclear weapons facility, The New Yorker magazine reported in its April 17 issue.
The article by investigative journalist Seymour Hersh said that Bush and others in the White House have come to view Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a potential Adolf Hitler.
“That’s the name they’re using,” the report quoted a former senior intelligence official as saying. A senior unnamed Pentagon adviser is quoted in the article as saying: “This White House believes that the only way to solve the problem is to change the power structure in Iran, and that means war.” The former intelligence official depicts planning as “enormous,” “hectic” and “operational,” Hersh writes.
One former defence official said that the military planning was premised on a belief that “a sustained bombing campaign in Iran will humiliate the religious leadership and lead the public to rise up and overthrow the government,” The New Yorker reported.
In recent weeks, President Bush has quietly initiated a series of talks on plans for Iran with a few key senators and members of the House of Representatives, including at least one Democrat, the report said. One of the options under consideration involves the possible use of a bunker-buster tactical nuclear weapon, such as the B61-11, to ensure the destruction of Iran’s main centrifuge plant at Natanz.
But the former senior intelligence official said that the attention given to the nuclear option has created serious misgivings inside the military, and some officers have talked about resigning after an attempt to remove the nuclear option from the evolving war plans in Iran failed, according to the report. “There are very strong sentiments within the military against brandishing nuclear weapons against other countries,” the magazine quotes the Pentagon adviser as saying.
The adviser warned that bombing Iran could provoke “a chain reaction” of attacks on American facilities and citizens throughout the world and might also reignite Hizbollah. afp
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default...9-4-2006_pg1_3
Using the nuclear bunker busters would possibly do the trick, but an all out war with the current availability of troops is a moot point.
US, under the present circumstance, cannot go to it alone since there are no troops to spare and the US public is not too enamoured with the result that Iraq has thrown up!
Other nations too, including the Coalition of the Willing, may not be too willing since their citizens too are not very enthusiastic about the results the Iraq enviroment is displaying.
That Iran requires a jolt to bring them to their senses, of that there is no doubt.
For all one knows, the US has already done its homework and has got the OK of a whole lot of countries, who will not oppose a bombing run over Iran and check the effects before plunging in.
There has been a lot of US diplomatic activities during the last few months including the Rice Straw stuff! Who knows Bush may have persuaded both Manmohan and Musharraf on the subject to shelve their objections if any. There has been dialogue with China and Russia.
So, when do you think the fireworks will start?
Willit be just a bombing run or a war and who all will join?
It is also a moot point if the bombing will cause a regime change. In fact, it could do the opposite since Patriotism is best seen when under attack!
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