US could bomb Iran in 2007

[Neo]

Thursday, November 23, 2006

US could bomb Iran in 2007

* Analysts say US military invasion of Iran not on table

WASHINGTON: President George W Bush could choose military action over diplomacy and bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities next year, political analysts in Washington agree.

“I think he is going to do it,” said John Pike, director of Globalsecurity.org, a military issues think tank.

“They are going to bomb WMD facilities next summer,” he added, referring to Iran’s nuclear facilities. “It would be a limited military action to destroy their WMD capabilities,” he added, believing a US military invasion of Iran was not on the table.

US journalist Seymour Hersh also said at the weekend that White House hawks led by Vice President Dick Cheney were intent on attacking Iran with or without the approval of the US Congress.

Joseph Cirincione, senior vice president for National Security and International Policy at the Centre for American Progress, a Democrat-friendly think tank, also believes the US government could decide to attack Iran. “It is not realistic but it does not mean we won’t do it,” he told AFP in an interview. “It is less likely after the elections but it is still very possible.”

“If you look at what the administration is doing, it seems that it is going to inevitably lead us to a military conflict,” he said, adding that no alternative solution was being sought, including discussions with Iran on Iraq, which could lead to talks on Iran’s nuclear program and role in the region.

“Senior members of the (Bush) administration remain seized with the idea that the regime in Iran must be removed,” Cirincione said. “The nuclear programme is one reason, but their deeper agenda is this belief that American military power can be used to fundamentally transform the regimes in the Middle East,” he added.

With the resignation of Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, hardliners in the government have lost one of their leading advocates, and his replacement, former Central Intelligence Agency chief Robert Gates, has in the past favoured direct talks with Iran, said the expert. “But they remain within the administration at the highest level, the office of the vice president, the national security council staff, perhaps the president himself,” Cirincione added.

He also accused neoconservative circles of promoting the military option against Tehran.

In a Sunday op-ed piece in the Los Angeles Times, Joshua Muarvchik, resident scholar at the neoconservative American Enterprise Institute, called for getting tough with Iran. “We must bomb Iran,” he said. “The path of diplomacy and sanctions has led nowhere ... Our options therefore are narrowed to two: we can prepare to live with a nuclear-armed Iran, or we can use force to prevent it.”

Israel has also been pushing Washington to get tough on Iran. Israeli Deputy Defence Minister Ephraim Sneh did not rule out preventive military action to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, in a recent interview with the English-language Jerusalem Post.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default...-11-2006_pg1_1

[Janbaz]

Iran aint going to take Uncle George's actions lightly. They aint Iraq, better much better in missile's and other military aspects. It's going to be smoking hot in Pakistan's back-yard.

[melb4aust]

It's really hard to make such speculations now, that US can attack Iran in 2007, they have'nt still recovered from Iraq and Afghanistan. These analysists should take it easy on Iran. Plus Chinese and Russian support wouldnt let that happen. Otherwise US will be opting for WWIII then.

[A.Rahman]

Originally Posted by melb4aust

It's really hard to make such speculations now, that US can attack Iran in 2007, they have'nt still recovered from Iraq and Afghanistan. These analysists should take it easy on Iran. Plus Chinese and Russian support wouldnt let that happen. Otherwise US will be opting for WWIII then.

China and Russia wouldn't do **** if US invades Iran. [ I mean militarily wise]

[melb4aust]

Originally Posted by A.Rahman

China and Russia wouldn't do **** if US invades Iran. [ I mean militarily wise]

Offcourse Russia and china are not gonna participate in the war, but they will support Iran by providing all military equipment necessary to counter US, and they are still doing it.

[Asim Aquil]

of globalsecurity.org?

"I think he is going to do it"... Haha nice quote, dailytimes or AFP...

[vnomad]

Originally Posted by Janbaz

Iran aint going to take Uncle George's actions lightly. They aint Iraq, better much better in missile's and other military aspects. It's going to be smoking hot in Pakistan's back-yard.

C'mon. Militarily their no Russia. The casualties the US took were mainly after the war due to guerilla warfare.
After the US bombing I doubt any of the Irani conventional weaponry would be in working condition.

[MIG_ACE]

The US is neck deep in sh*t in Iraq.They aint gonna do anything to iran unless iran does something to Israel first. I am counting on ahmadinejad not being that foolish.

[Janbaz]

Originally Posted by vnomad

C'mon. Militarily their no Russia. The casualties the US took were mainly after the war due to guerilla warfare.
After the US bombing I doubt any of the Irani conventional weaponry would be in working condition.

Come on! They will be resist the US invasion in some matter and could even cut oil supplies from Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf states.

[Asim Aquil]

This news can hardly be counted as legitimate. We've been hearing "Iran can get bombed by next year" at the end of every year for like 3 yrs now.

[Keysersoze]

Doubt it is gonna happen......

They are bogged down in Iraq, Afghanistan and have problems with North Korea. So the above precludes ground attacks against Iran. If they use airstrikes, they know that Iran could make things very complicated for them in Iraq.

Plus Rumsfeld is gone
so no attack by THIS US administration. Who knows with the next one.

[KashifAsrar]

At the moment it look that Iran 'Campaign' for neocons and zionists is not going to yeild their desired results. So we may expect a delay till the election of 2008. But then Iran might have gone completely out of hands by then !
Kashif

[Janbaz]

If Iran gets nuclear capbilities, The Zionist regime in Israel is doomed. It has no strategic depth and will just be folded like a tin coke can by huge Iran and it's WMD arsenal.

[Asim Aquil]

I doubt Iran has the capability to initiate a conventional war with Israel and win it. I agree if Iran did have that capability it would launch an offensive against Israel, since there won't be a threat of nuclear retaliation. MAD should keep each side at bay from going trigger happy with nukes.

[KashifAsrar]

Iran's nuke capability will defnitely change the entire middle east scenario. US of A would face the most humiliating retreat from the middle east, if Iran goes nuclear. That's a fact. More over Dollor business would be in serious risk, because Iran would then use alternate currency (Euros, yuans, Rouble etc.) instead of dollor for oil business. Dollor hegemony would be broken.
Kashif