The US military is drawing up plans for a “surgical strike” against an insurgent training camp inside Iran if Republican Guards continue with attempts to destabilise Iraq, western intelligence sources said last week. One source said the Americans were growing increasingly angry at the involvement of the Guards’ special-operations Quds force inside Iraq, training Shi’ite militias and smuggling weapons into the country.
Despite a belligerent stance by Vice-President Dick Cheney, the administration has put plans for an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities on the back burner since Robert Gates replaced Donald Rumsfeld as defence secretary in 2006, the sources said.
However, US commanders are increasingly concerned by Iranian interference in Iraq and are determined that recent successes by joint Iraqi and US forces in the southern port city of Basra should not be reversed by the Quds Force.
“If the situation in Basra goes back to what it was like before, America is likely to blame Iran and carry out a surgical strike on a militant training camp across the border in Khuzestan,” said one source, referring to a frontier province.
They acknowledged Iran was unlikely to cease involvement in Iraq and that, however limited a US attack might be, the fighting could escalate.
Although American defence chiefs are firmly opposed to any attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, they believe a raid on one of the camps training Shi’ite militiamen would deliver a powerful message to Tehran.
British officials believe the US military tends to overestimate the effect of the Iranian involvement in Iraq.
But they say there is little doubt that the Revolutionary Guard exercises significant influence over splinter groups of the radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army, who were the main targets of recent operations in Basra.
The CBS television network reported last week that plans were being drawn up for an attack on Iran, citing an officer who blamed the “increasingly hostile role” Iran was playing in Iraq.
The American news reports were unclear about the precise target of such an action and referred to Iran’s nuclear facilities as the likely objective.
According to the intelligence sources there will not be an attack on Iran’s nuclear capacity. “The Pentagon is not keen on that at all. If an attack happens it will be on a training camp to send a clear message to Iran not to interfere.”
President George W Bush is known to be determined that he should not hand over what he sees as “the Iran problem” to his successor. A limited attack on a training camp may give an impression of tough action, while at the same time being something that both Gates and the US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, could accept.
3 comments:
This from the same country who can't seem to keep the unarmed fruit pickers from crossing into the U.S. from Mexico.
Paleeezzzzeee.
What a wise kitty:)
Iran is laughing so hard at this one. If the US were to attack Iran, Russia would use the Nukes to protect the innocent country. Americans looked for the World to step forward when the WTC was attacked. This is just a trick the White House is playing to keep Americans from knowing what's really going on. Look the fake pictures didn't work again this time. Powell showed fake pictures of Iraq's so called Nuclear buildings now the same artist had drawn up Syria's so called building. First the White House used Al Qaeda, then Iraq and now Iran. Wake up people it War Profiteers in the USA at work here. While the US is spending, stealing and lying the rest of the World has moved on and doing very well for their citizens.
Mr. Kitty your right. The US can't keep fruit pickers out because who's going to pick the fruit? Musk Rat and his Deputy Dough Boy have a corrupt DOJ, but want 770 million dollars to fight drugs. With criminals and drug addicts working in the Department of Justice what's the money for? Will Musk Rat/Dough Boy pocket the money and give one dollar to fight drugs? Why not pick up King Pin Teresa Gonzales as she's still in business. Most of the criminals who got out of jail to serve in the Military went to Afghanistan for free cocaine. First hand information from a soldier who was there you can get cocaine cheaper then a cigarette and if you know the right people cocaine if free.
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