US prepares military blitz against Iran's nuclear sites

[Guest guest]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/02/12/wiran12.xml & sShe\

et=/news/2006/02/12/ixnewstop.html

 

 

 

US prepares military blitz against Iran's nuclear sites

By Philip Sherwell in Washington

(Filed: 12/02/2006)

 

Strategists at the Pentagon are drawing up plans for devastating

bombing raids backed by submarine-launched ballistic missile attacks

against Iran's nuclear sites as a " last resort " to block Teheran's

efforts to develop an atomic bomb.

 

Central Command and Strategic Command planners are identifying

targets, assessing weapon-loads and working on logistics for an

operation, the Sunday Telegraph has earnt.

 

They are reporting to the office of Donald Rumsfeld, the defence

secretary, as America updates plans for action if the diplomatic

offensive fails to thwart the Islamic republic's nuclear bomb

ambitions. Teheran claims that it is developing only a civilian energy

programme.

 

" This is more than just the standard military contingency assessment, "

said a senior Pentagon adviser. " This has taken on much greater

urgency in recent months. "

 

The prospect of military action could put Washington at odds with

Britain which fears that an attack would spark violence across the

Middle East, reprisals in the West and may not cripple Teheran's

nuclear programme. But the steady flow of disclosures about Iran's

secret nuclear operations and the virulent anti-Israeli threats of

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has prompted the fresh assessment of

military options by Washington. The most likely strategy would involve

aerial bombardment by long-distance B2 bombers, each armed with up to

40,000lb of precision weapons, including the latest bunker-busting

devices. They would fly from bases in Missouri with mid-air refuelling.

 

The Bush administration has recently announced plans to add

conventional ballistic missiles to the armoury of its nuclear Trident

submarines within the next two years. If ready in time, they would

also form part of the plan of attack.

 

Teheran has dispersed its nuclear plants, burying some deep

underground, and has recently increased its air defences, but Pentagon

planners believe that the raids could seriously set back Iran's

nuclear programme.

 

Iran factfile

 

Iran was last weekend reported to the United Nations Security Council

by the International Atomic Energy Agency for its banned nuclear

activities. Teheran reacted by announcing that it would resume

full-scale uranium enrichment - producing material that could arm

nuclear devices.

 

The White House says that it wants a diplomatic solution to the

stand-off, but President George W Bush has refused to rule out

military action and reaffirmed last weekend that Iran's nuclear

ambitions " will not be tolerated " .

 

Sen John McCain, the Republican front-runner to succeed Mr Bush in

2008, has advocated military strikes as a last resort. He said

recently: " There is only only one thing worse than the United States

exercising a military option and that is a nuclear-armed Iran. "

 

Senator Joe Lieberman, a Democrat, has made the same case and Mr Bush

is expected to be faced by the decision within two years.

 

By then, Iran will be close to acquiring the knowledge to make an

atomic bomb, although the construction will take longer. The President

will not want to be seen as leaving the White House having allowed

Iran's ayatollahs to go atomic.

 

In Teheran yesterday, crowds celebrating the anniversary of the 1979

Islamic revolution chanted " Nuclear technology is our inalienable

right " and cheered Mr Ahmadinejad when he said that Iran may

reconsider membership of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

 

He was defiant over possible economic sanctions.

 

 

© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2006. Terms & Conditions of

reading.