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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran | |
| Joint Chiefs Chairman Says U.S. Preparing Military Options Against Iran | |
| 2008-04-26 | |
The nation's top military officer said today that the Pentagon is planning for "potential military courses of action" against Iran, criticizing what he called the Tehran government's "increasingly lethal and malign influence" in Iraq.
Still, Mullen made clear that he prefers a diplomatic solution to the tensions with Iran and does not foresee any imminent military action. "I have no expectations that we're going to get into a conflict with Iran in the immediate future," he said. Mullen's statements and others by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates recently signal a new rhetorical onslaught by the Bush administration against Iran, amid what officials say is increased Iranian provision of weapons, training and financing to Iraqi groups that are attacking and killing Americans. In a speech Monday at West Point, Gates said Iran "is hell-bent on acquiring nuclear weapons." He said a war with Iran would be "disastrous on a number of levels. But the military option must be kept on the table given the destabilizing policies of the regime and the risks inherent in a future Iranian nuclear threat." Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, who was nominated this week to head all U.S. forces in the Middle East, is preparing a briefing soon to lay out detailed evidence of increased Iranian involvement in Iraq, Mullen said. The briefing will detail, for example, the discovery in Iraq of weapons that were very recently manufactured in Iran, he said. "The Iranian government pledged to halt such activities some months ago. It's plainly obvious they have not. Indeed, they seem to have gone the other way," Mullen said. He said recent unrest in the southern Iraqi city of Basra had highlighted a "level of involvement" by Iran that had not been understood by the U.S. military previously. "It became very, very visible in ways that we hadn't seen before," he said. But while Mullen and Gates have recently stated that Tehran must know of Iranian actions in Iraq, which they say are led by Iran's Revolutionary Guard, Mullen said he has "no smoking gun which could prove that the highest leadership [of Iran] is involved in this." | |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #16 I've been in PRP, so can't really comment on neutrons, nukes, etc. But I'd say the JCS wouyld be remiss if they were NOT prepping plans for Iran, and doing so on a daily basis, at least for contingency pruposes. That's their damned job. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2008-04-26 21:06 |
| #15 I don't know nuthin', an' I can prove it! |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2008-04-26 19:01 |
| #14 I hope you're right, RD, but I doubt it. Something that big doesn't get done after Congress says don't do it. But I do like the dial-a-yield option. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-04-26 18:49 |
| #13 |
| Posted by: gorb 2008-04-26 14:12 |
| #12 But if youse really want to get the straight poop: get a Nuke Clearance and ask someone who knows. yep. The man is question is my Uncle, and he wasn't gonna confirm anything to me |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-04-26 13:52 |
| #11 Neutron bomb #8 I was talking to a former (ret.) scientist who worked at Livermore Lab. He said "all nukes have enhanced radiation, some more than others". When I was commenting about Carter stopping Neutron bomb research/production, he just said: "hmmm" with a smile. I too have *heard* second hand, that we have 'Dial-a-Nukes'; IIRC some changes in the size and strength of Nukes, which would automatically include particle changes in certain weapons.. But if youse really want to get the straight poop: get a Nuke Clearance and ask someone who knows. |
| Posted by: RD 2008-04-26 13:35 |
| #10 I thought Mullen went gently into that good night. |
| Posted by: doc 2008-04-26 13:30 |
| #9 You mean they did not make any contingency plans until now? We get one of these reports every three or four months. |
| Posted by: Fred 2008-04-26 10:44 |
| #8 I was talking to a former (ret.) scientist who worked at Livermore Lab. He said "all nukes have enhanced radiation, some more than others". When I was commenting about Carter stopping Neutron bomb research/production, he just said: "hmmm" with a smile. |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-04-26 10:12 |
| #7 Guys, there are always plans for all contingencies. Somewhere in the Pentagon is a drawer full of detailed plans, updated regularly, to invade Canada if need be. Or for that matter, Greenland, Iceland, or Lichtenstein. |
| Posted by: RWV 2008-04-26 09:56 |
| #6 You mean they did not make any contingency plans until now? There's always contingency planning. It's that there's seldom a public announcement about doing the latest revisions. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2008-04-26 09:21 |
| #5 If they want to show we're really serious, they should announce that we've resumed work on the enhanced radiation weapon. That would be worth just seeing Carter's reaction. Then the breeder reactor. See how much we owe him? |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-04-26 08:04 |
| #4 You mean they did not make any contingency plans until now? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2008-04-26 07:47 |
| #3 What is funny is that if the Dhimmocrats insist on running BO as their candidate in the fall, John McCain will wind up as President. Then, any hostile action by Iran is most likely to result in a really nasty response by McCain, who has made his dislike of Iran well known. |
| Posted by: Shieldwolf 2008-04-26 03:15 |
| #2 REALCLEARPOLITICS > WHY ISRAEL WON'T/CAN'T SURVIVE + NORTH KOREA REDUX; + TOPIX > ITS TOO LATE TO STOP NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION + DRUMS OF WAR ARE BEATING LOUDER. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-04-26 02:13 |
| #1 2008-2012/13 {Vari NET] > NO US-IRAN WAR EVEEER, espec NLT 2010 > BOTH IRAN + ISLAMIST TERROR ARE MORE THAN LIKELY TO GO NUCLEAR. The US-ALLIES will no longer be able to undertake any kind of unilateral milaction unless are willing to risk MUTUALLY DESTRUCTIVE STRATEGIC NUCLEAR WARFARE OR RELATED NUCLEAR-WMD RETALIATION. 'Tis what ISRAEL fears. ION, PHILIPPINES > GOVT. ANTICIPATES MILITANTS TO ESCALATE ATTACKS. Keep your Prayers current, and Fingers crossed for PEACE. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-04-26 00:31 |