Gold9472
02-27-2007, 09:45 AM
Pentagon creates Iran attack group, says report
http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=67002
Monday, February 26, 2007
It was another Sunday of “Iran attack scenarios” yesterday for the international media, as major news outlets focused on alleged attack plans drawn up by the Pentagon or the civilian-military dispute in Washington over the prospect of such an attack. But the article that stood out among others bore the name of investigative reporter Seymour Hersh.
Despite the Bush administration's insistence that it has no plans to go to war with Iran, a Pentagon panel has been created to plan an air assault that could be implemented within 24 hours of getting the go-ahead from President George W. Bush, The New Yorker magazine reported in its latest issue.
The special planning group was established within the office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in recent months, according to an unidentified former U.S. intelligence official cited in the article by Hersh in the March 4 issue.
Hersh is known for his uncovering of the My Lai massacre in Vietnam and the torture scandal at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq's capital, Baghdad.
Expanding targets:
The Pentagon panel initially focused on destroying Iran's nuclear facilities and on regime change but has more recently been directed to identify targets in Iran that may be involved in supplying or aiding militants in Iraq, according to an Air Force adviser and a Pentagon consultant, who were not identified.
The consultant and a former senior intelligence official both said that U.S. military and special-operations teams had crossed the border from Iraq into Iran in pursuit of Iranian operatives, according to a Reuters report on the lengthy article.
In response to the report, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said, “The United States is not planning to go to war with Iran. To suggest anything to the contrary is simply wrong, misleading and mischievous.
“The United States has been very clear with respect to its concerns regarding specific Iranian government activities. The president has repeatedly stated publicly that this country is going to work with allies in the region to address those concerns through diplomatic efforts.”
Israeli intelligence:
The article, citing unnamed current and former U.S. officials, also said the Bush administration received intelligence from Israel that Iran had developed an intercontinental missile capable of delivering several small warheads that could reach Europe. It added the validity of that intelligence was still being debated.
The article also included an interview conducted in December with Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who said that while he had no interest in initiating another war with Israel, he was anticipating and preparing for another Israeli attack sometime this year.
Nasrallah also said he was open to talks with Washington if such discussions “can be useful and influential in determining American policy in the region,” but they would be waste of time if the purpose was to impose policy.
Destabilization effort:
Meanwhile, the United States is secretly funding militant ethnic separatist groups in Iran in an attempt to pile pressure on the Islamic regime to give up its nuclear program, claimed The Sunday Telegraph.
CIA officials are “understood to be helping opposition militias among the numerous ethnic minority groups clustered in Iran's border regions,” wrote the British paper yesterday. The operations are controversial because “they involve dealing with movements that resort to terrorist methods in pursuit of their grievances against the Iranian regime.”
Funding for the separatist causes of Kurds in the West, Azeris in the Northwest, Ahwazi Arabs in the Southwest and the Baluchis in the Southeast “comes directly from the CIA's classified budget,” claimed The Sunday Telegraph, relying on a former high-ranking CIA official in Washington who spoke on condition of anonymity.
His claims were backed by Fred Burton, a former U.S. state department counterterrorism agent, who said to the paper that the latest attacks inside Iran “fall in line with U.S. efforts to supply and train Iran's ethnic minorities to destabilize the Iranian regime.”
Military ‘revolt':
But “some of America's most senior military commanders are prepared to resign if the White House orders a military strike against Iran,” claimed The Sunday Times, relying on “highly placed defense and intelligence sources.”
An attack on Iran is becoming increasingly likely, noted the British paper, adding that “up to five generals and admirals are willing to resign rather than approve what they consider would be a reckless attack.”
“There are four or five generals and admirals we know of who would resign if Bush ordered an attack on Iran,” a source with close ties to British intelligence said. “There is simply no stomach for it in the Pentagon, and a lot of people question whether such an attack would be effective or even possible.”
A British defense source also confirmed to the paper that there were “deep misgivings” inside the Pentagon about such a strike. “All the generals are perfectly clear that they don't have the military capacity to take Iran on in any meaningful fashion,” said the official.
http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=67002
Monday, February 26, 2007
It was another Sunday of “Iran attack scenarios” yesterday for the international media, as major news outlets focused on alleged attack plans drawn up by the Pentagon or the civilian-military dispute in Washington over the prospect of such an attack. But the article that stood out among others bore the name of investigative reporter Seymour Hersh.
Despite the Bush administration's insistence that it has no plans to go to war with Iran, a Pentagon panel has been created to plan an air assault that could be implemented within 24 hours of getting the go-ahead from President George W. Bush, The New Yorker magazine reported in its latest issue.
The special planning group was established within the office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in recent months, according to an unidentified former U.S. intelligence official cited in the article by Hersh in the March 4 issue.
Hersh is known for his uncovering of the My Lai massacre in Vietnam and the torture scandal at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq's capital, Baghdad.
Expanding targets:
The Pentagon panel initially focused on destroying Iran's nuclear facilities and on regime change but has more recently been directed to identify targets in Iran that may be involved in supplying or aiding militants in Iraq, according to an Air Force adviser and a Pentagon consultant, who were not identified.
The consultant and a former senior intelligence official both said that U.S. military and special-operations teams had crossed the border from Iraq into Iran in pursuit of Iranian operatives, according to a Reuters report on the lengthy article.
In response to the report, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said, “The United States is not planning to go to war with Iran. To suggest anything to the contrary is simply wrong, misleading and mischievous.
“The United States has been very clear with respect to its concerns regarding specific Iranian government activities. The president has repeatedly stated publicly that this country is going to work with allies in the region to address those concerns through diplomatic efforts.”
Israeli intelligence:
The article, citing unnamed current and former U.S. officials, also said the Bush administration received intelligence from Israel that Iran had developed an intercontinental missile capable of delivering several small warheads that could reach Europe. It added the validity of that intelligence was still being debated.
The article also included an interview conducted in December with Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who said that while he had no interest in initiating another war with Israel, he was anticipating and preparing for another Israeli attack sometime this year.
Nasrallah also said he was open to talks with Washington if such discussions “can be useful and influential in determining American policy in the region,” but they would be waste of time if the purpose was to impose policy.
Destabilization effort:
Meanwhile, the United States is secretly funding militant ethnic separatist groups in Iran in an attempt to pile pressure on the Islamic regime to give up its nuclear program, claimed The Sunday Telegraph.
CIA officials are “understood to be helping opposition militias among the numerous ethnic minority groups clustered in Iran's border regions,” wrote the British paper yesterday. The operations are controversial because “they involve dealing with movements that resort to terrorist methods in pursuit of their grievances against the Iranian regime.”
Funding for the separatist causes of Kurds in the West, Azeris in the Northwest, Ahwazi Arabs in the Southwest and the Baluchis in the Southeast “comes directly from the CIA's classified budget,” claimed The Sunday Telegraph, relying on a former high-ranking CIA official in Washington who spoke on condition of anonymity.
His claims were backed by Fred Burton, a former U.S. state department counterterrorism agent, who said to the paper that the latest attacks inside Iran “fall in line with U.S. efforts to supply and train Iran's ethnic minorities to destabilize the Iranian regime.”
Military ‘revolt':
But “some of America's most senior military commanders are prepared to resign if the White House orders a military strike against Iran,” claimed The Sunday Times, relying on “highly placed defense and intelligence sources.”
An attack on Iran is becoming increasingly likely, noted the British paper, adding that “up to five generals and admirals are willing to resign rather than approve what they consider would be a reckless attack.”
“There are four or five generals and admirals we know of who would resign if Bush ordered an attack on Iran,” a source with close ties to British intelligence said. “There is simply no stomach for it in the Pentagon, and a lot of people question whether such an attack would be effective or even possible.”
A British defense source also confirmed to the paper that there were “deep misgivings” inside the Pentagon about such a strike. “All the generals are perfectly clear that they don't have the military capacity to take Iran on in any meaningful fashion,” said the official.