WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. contingency planning for military action against Iran's nuclear program goes beyond limited strikes and would effectively unleash a war against the country, a former U.S. intelligence analyst said on Friday.
"I've seen some of the planning ... You're not talking about a surgical strike," said Wayne White, who was a top Middle East analyst for the State Department's bureau of intelligence and research until March 2005.
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"We're not talking about just surgical strikes against an array of targets inside Iran. We're talking about clearing a path to the targets" by taking out much of the Iranian Air Force, Kilo submarines, anti-ship missiles that could target commerce or U.S. warships in the Gulf, and maybe even Iran's ballistic missile capability, White said.
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These plans are probably firm by now, since we've been talking about them for eight months. All they need is the Chimp's order to go.
As I noted yesterday, the Russians and Chinese are helping the Iranians (and more will follow if we attack) and the Afghanis don't want anything to do with an operation launched from their territory. We don't have the ground troops to secure Iran (we can't do the job in Iraq and Afghanistan as it is) so we'll have to bomb them back to the Stone Age. I'm sure the warmongers in the Israeli Defense Forces are chomping at the bit to go along with us.
Personally I believe, as Bush sees the cards stacked against him (even a deaf, dumb, and blind kid can tell the Congressional investigations coming down the pike will cut the legs out from under the WH), the chances of his attacking Iran increase in the short-term. Congress better do something quickly before the fuck up in Iraq becomes the least of our problems.
As Mr. White said:
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"You're talking about a war against Iran" that likely would destabilize the Middle East for years, White told the Middle East Policy Council, a Washington think tank.
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To put it in easy terms, a destabilized Middle East would mean $10/gal. gasoline. That would bring our economy, and this nation, to its knees. Once again, thank you Mr. Bush.
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