Following a report in The Guardian. It would be irresponsible of the Bush Administration not to have made such preparations, given the repeated bellicose statements coming out of Iran, but whether it will ever actually put such a plan into action is another matter.
“US ‘ready to strike’ Iran,” from Gulf News, with thanks to Sr. Soph:
Dubai: The Bush administration is in the “advanced stages” of preparing for a military strike against Iranian nuclear sites, according to a report quoting US officials and analysts.
Washington’s current military build-up in the Gulf would allow it to mount an attack by spring, the Guardian reported yesterday. The report comes a day after Defence Secretary Robert Gates reiterated that the US was not planning a strike against Iran.
In Abu Dhabi, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for the Middle East, Mark Kimmitt, told a Gulf security conference yesterday that the US is not seeking a military confrontation with Tehran over its controversial nuclear programme.
But the Guardian quoted Vincent Cannistraro, a US intelligence analyst and former CIA official, as saying: “Planning is going on, in spite of public disavowals … Targets have been selected.”