Will Bush Bomb Iran
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Bush setting America up for war with Iran
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/16/wiran116.xml
By Philip Sherwell in New York and Tim Shipman in Washington
Last Updated: 2:29am BST 17/09/2007
Senior American intelligence and defence officials believe that President George W Bush and his inner circle are taking steps to place America on the path to war with Iran, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt.
Pentagon planners have developed a list of up to 2,000 bombing targets in Iran, amid growing fears among serving officers that diplomatic efforts to slow Iran's nuclear weapons programme are doomed to fail.
Pentagon and CIA officers say they believe that the White House has begun a carefully calibrated programme of escalation that could lead to a military showdown with Iran.
Now it has emerged that Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, who has been pushing for a diplomatic solution, is prepared to settle her differences with Vice-President Dick Cheney and sanction military action.
In a chilling scenario of how war might come, a senior intelligence officer warned that public denunciation of Iranian meddling in Iraq - arming and training militants - would lead to cross border raids on Iranian training camps and bomb factories.
A prime target would be the Fajr base run by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Quds Force in southern Iran, where Western intelligence agencies say armour-piercing projectiles used against British and US troops are manufactured.
Under the theory - which is gaining credence in Washington security circles - US action would provoke a major Iranian response, perhaps in the form of moves to cut off Gulf oil supplies, providing a trigger for air strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities and even its armed forces.
Senior officials believe Mr Bush's inner circle has decided he does not want to leave office without first ensuring that Iran is not capable of developing a nuclear weapon.
The intelligence source said: "No one outside that tight circle knows what is going to happen." But he said that within the CIA "many if not most officials believe that diplomacy is failing" and that "top Pentagon brass believes the same".
He said: "A strike will probably follow a gradual escalation. Over the next few weeks and months the US will build tensions and evidence around Iranian activities in Iraq."
Previously, accusations that Mr Bush was set on war with Iran have come almost entirely from his critics.
Many senior operatives within the CIA are highly critical of Mr Bush's handling of the Iraq war, though they themselves are considered ineffective and unreliable by hardliners close to Mr Cheney.
The vice president is said to advocate the use of bunker-busting tactical nuclear weapons against Iran's nuclear sites. His allies dispute this, but Mr Cheney is understood to be lobbying for air strikes if sites can be identified where Revolutionary Guard units are training Shia militias.
Recent developments over Iraq appear to fit with the pattern of escalation predicted by Pentagon officials.
Gen David Petraeus, Mr Bush's senior Iraq commander, denounced the Iranian "proxy war" in Iraq last week as he built support in Washington for the US military surge in Baghdad.
The US also announced the creation of a new base near the Iraqi border town of Badra, the first of what could be several locations to tackle the smuggling of weapons from Iran.
A State Department source familiar with White House discussions said that Miss Rice, under pressure from senior counter-proliferation officials to acknowledge that military action may be necessary, is now working with Mr Cheney to find a way to reconcile their positions and present a united front to the President.
The source said: "When you go down there and see the body language, you can see that Cheney is still The Man. Condi pushed for diplomacy but she is no dove. If it becomes necessary she will be on board.
"Both of them are very close to the president, and where they differ they are working together to find a way to present a position they can both live with."
The official contrasted the efforts of the secretary of state to work with the vice-president with the "open warfare between Colin Powell and Donald Rumsfeld before the Iraq war".
Miss Rice's bottom line is that if the administration is to go to war again it must build the case over a period of months and win sufficient support on Capitol Hill.
The Sunday Telegraph has been told that Mr Bush has privately promised her that he would consult "meaningfully" with Congressional leaders of both parties before any military action against Iran on the understanding that Miss Rice would resign if this did not happen.
The intelligence officer said that the US military has "two major contingency plans" for air strikes on Iran.
"One is to bomb only the nuclear facilities. The second option is for a much bigger strike that would - over two or three days - hit all of the significant military sites as well. This plan involves more than 2,000 targets."
Bush setting America up for war with Iran
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/16/wiran116.xml
By Philip Sherwell in New York and Tim Shipman in Washington
Last Updated: 2:29am BST 17/09/2007
Senior American intelligence and defence officials believe that President George W Bush and his inner circle are taking steps to place America on the path to war with Iran, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt.
Pentagon planners have developed a list of up to 2,000 bombing targets in Iran, amid growing fears among serving officers that diplomatic efforts to slow Iran's nuclear weapons programme are doomed to fail.
Pentagon and CIA officers say they believe that the White House has begun a carefully calibrated programme of escalation that could lead to a military showdown with Iran.
Now it has emerged that Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, who has been pushing for a diplomatic solution, is prepared to settle her differences with Vice-President Dick Cheney and sanction military action.
In a chilling scenario of how war might come, a senior intelligence officer warned that public denunciation of Iranian meddling in Iraq - arming and training militants - would lead to cross border raids on Iranian training camps and bomb factories.
A prime target would be the Fajr base run by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Quds Force in southern Iran, where Western intelligence agencies say armour-piercing projectiles used against British and US troops are manufactured.
Under the theory - which is gaining credence in Washington security circles - US action would provoke a major Iranian response, perhaps in the form of moves to cut off Gulf oil supplies, providing a trigger for air strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities and even its armed forces.
Senior officials believe Mr Bush's inner circle has decided he does not want to leave office without first ensuring that Iran is not capable of developing a nuclear weapon.
The intelligence source said: "No one outside that tight circle knows what is going to happen." But he said that within the CIA "many if not most officials believe that diplomacy is failing" and that "top Pentagon brass believes the same".
He said: "A strike will probably follow a gradual escalation. Over the next few weeks and months the US will build tensions and evidence around Iranian activities in Iraq."
Previously, accusations that Mr Bush was set on war with Iran have come almost entirely from his critics.
Many senior operatives within the CIA are highly critical of Mr Bush's handling of the Iraq war, though they themselves are considered ineffective and unreliable by hardliners close to Mr Cheney.
The vice president is said to advocate the use of bunker-busting tactical nuclear weapons against Iran's nuclear sites. His allies dispute this, but Mr Cheney is understood to be lobbying for air strikes if sites can be identified where Revolutionary Guard units are training Shia militias.
Recent developments over Iraq appear to fit with the pattern of escalation predicted by Pentagon officials.
Gen David Petraeus, Mr Bush's senior Iraq commander, denounced the Iranian "proxy war" in Iraq last week as he built support in Washington for the US military surge in Baghdad.
The US also announced the creation of a new base near the Iraqi border town of Badra, the first of what could be several locations to tackle the smuggling of weapons from Iran.
A State Department source familiar with White House discussions said that Miss Rice, under pressure from senior counter-proliferation officials to acknowledge that military action may be necessary, is now working with Mr Cheney to find a way to reconcile their positions and present a united front to the President.
The source said: "When you go down there and see the body language, you can see that Cheney is still The Man. Condi pushed for diplomacy but she is no dove. If it becomes necessary she will be on board.
"Both of them are very close to the president, and where they differ they are working together to find a way to present a position they can both live with."
The official contrasted the efforts of the secretary of state to work with the vice-president with the "open warfare between Colin Powell and Donald Rumsfeld before the Iraq war".
Miss Rice's bottom line is that if the administration is to go to war again it must build the case over a period of months and win sufficient support on Capitol Hill.
The Sunday Telegraph has been told that Mr Bush has privately promised her that he would consult "meaningfully" with Congressional leaders of both parties before any military action against Iran on the understanding that Miss Rice would resign if this did not happen.
The intelligence officer said that the US military has "two major contingency plans" for air strikes on Iran.
"One is to bomb only the nuclear facilities. The second option is for a much bigger strike that would - over two or three days - hit all of the significant military sites as well. This plan involves more than 2,000 targets."
Really, do you have a quote of me saying that.....WoodPeckr said:Yet you predict Dubya will go down in history as a great POTUS!......
OTB
There won't be much to celebrate about, as many feel if this comes to pass it will most likely be the kickoff of WWIII.......
Russia, China worried by Iran attack talk
Well it looks like Russia and China are attempting to avert WWIII.....While the 'Fucking Crazies' Colin Powell warned us of step up their war plans.....
Russia, China worried by Iran attack talk
By Chris Baldwin
Tue Sep 18, 11:33 AM ET
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia and China expressed alarm on Tuesday over comments by France's foreign minister raising the specter of war with Iran, and Washington said diplomacy was key to ending a standoff with Tehran over its nuclear program......
[more]
Well it looks like Russia and China are attempting to avert WWIII.....While the 'Fucking Crazies' Colin Powell warned us of step up their war plans.....
Russia, China worried by Iran attack talk
By Chris Baldwin
Tue Sep 18, 11:33 AM ET
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia and China expressed alarm on Tuesday over comments by France's foreign minister raising the specter of war with Iran, and Washington said diplomacy was key to ending a standoff with Tehran over its nuclear program......
[more]
So the French are the "fucking crazies" and the US is the pillar of diplomacy?WoodPeckr said:
OTB
LOL!!!onthebottom said:
Obfuscating agains as usual, eh bot.....
You know very well which 'Fucking Crazies' Colin Powell was referring to a few years back so thought of bringing them up again for you.
Nice try to link the French to the 'Fucking Crazies' though......
Sometimes I think you don't read your own posts, or if you do you don't understand them.WoodPeckr said:LOL!!!
Obfuscating agains as usual, eh bot.....
You know very well which 'Fucking Crazies' Colin Powell was referring to a few years back so thought of bringing them up again for you.
Nice try to link the French to the 'Fucking Crazies' though......
In your post the French are flexing the mussel and the American's are pursuing diplomacy.....
fucking liberals.....
OTB
Even though the French are fond of shellfish, I think you meant muscle.onthebottom said:
You're on a roll tonight!
bot,
You misread.
The French are just flexing their jaws in their new role replacing Tony Blair as Dubya's new poodle.
The "fucking crazies" just refer to the neocons who control Dubya's very limited brain....
You misread.
The French are just flexing their jaws in their new role replacing Tony Blair as Dubya's new poodle.
The "fucking crazies" just refer to the neocons who control Dubya's very limited brain....
Darth Cheney Wants War......
Cheney mulled Israeli strike on Iran: Newsweek
Sun Sep 23, 2:34 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Dick Cheney had at one point considered asking Israel to launch limited missile strikes at an Iranian nuclear site to provoke a retaliation, Newsweek magazine reported on Sunday......
Cheney mulled Israeli strike on Iran: Newsweek
Sun Sep 23, 2:34 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Dick Cheney had at one point considered asking Israel to launch limited missile strikes at an Iranian nuclear site to provoke a retaliation, Newsweek magazine reported on Sunday......
Study: U.S., Israel should begin planning strike on Iran nuclear sites
Israel and the United States should begin an intense dialogue on ways to deal with Iran's nuclear plans and should examine ways to attack Iran's nuclear facilities, according to a new study published by an influential Washington think tank.
The report, by a former deputy head of the National Security Council, Chuck Freilich, says Israel and the U.S. should discuss nuclear-crisis scenarios between Israel and Iran. The report, entitled "Speaking About the Unspeakable," was released over the weekend by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/930162.html
Israel and the United States should begin an intense dialogue on ways to deal with Iran's nuclear plans and should examine ways to attack Iran's nuclear facilities, according to a new study published by an influential Washington think tank.
The report, by a former deputy head of the National Security Council, Chuck Freilich, says Israel and the U.S. should discuss nuclear-crisis scenarios between Israel and Iran. The report, entitled "Speaking About the Unspeakable," was released over the weekend by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/930162.html
Israel is going to cause the destruction of the US. When are American politicans going to start doing what's best for the "good ole US of A" instead of what's in the best interest of Israel?
They should have blown that place off the map when Israel attacked that US Navy ship in 68?
They should have blown that place off the map when Israel attacked that US Navy ship in 68?
No one posted this yet today?
Top spies counter Bush's rhetoric on Iran
PAUL KORING
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
December 3, 2007 at 11:01 PM EST
WASHINGTON — Despite months of sabre-rattling by U.S. President George W. Bush, America's top spies have concluded that Tehran's ruling mullahs may not want a finger on the nuclear trigger after all.
As recently as October, Mr. Bush was hinting at air strikes against Iran's secretive and mostly underground nuclear sites, warning that averting World War III meant preventing Tehran from tipping its missiles with nuclear warheads.
So a key finding in yesterday's National Intelligence Estimate, that Iran shut down its nuclear weapons program four years ago, was unexpected and may avert a showdown.
The finding that Tehran shut down its nuclear-weapons effort in 2003 was in direct contradiction to the last intelligence estimate — in 2005 — that concluded Iran was secretly and intensively trying to build nuclear warheads.
Top spies counter Bush's rhetoric on Iran
PAUL KORING
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
December 3, 2007 at 11:01 PM EST
WASHINGTON — Despite months of sabre-rattling by U.S. President George W. Bush, America's top spies have concluded that Tehran's ruling mullahs may not want a finger on the nuclear trigger after all.
As recently as October, Mr. Bush was hinting at air strikes against Iran's secretive and mostly underground nuclear sites, warning that averting World War III meant preventing Tehran from tipping its missiles with nuclear warheads.
So a key finding in yesterday's National Intelligence Estimate, that Iran shut down its nuclear weapons program four years ago, was unexpected and may avert a showdown.
The finding that Tehran shut down its nuclear-weapons effort in 2003 was in direct contradiction to the last intelligence estimate — in 2005 — that concluded Iran was secretly and intensively trying to build nuclear warheads.
New report indicates that Iran stopped nuclear work in 2003 and that Bush knew about it. The White House is still insisting that they are not changing their policy towards Iran.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/03/iran.nuclear/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/03/iran.nuclear/index.html
