- In Washington it is hardly a secret that the same people
in and around the administration who brought you Iraq are preparing to
do the same for Iran. The Pentagon, acting under instructions from Vice
President Dick Cheney's office, has tasked the United States Strategic
Command (STRATCOM) with drawing up a contingency plan to be employed in
response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States. The
plan includes a large-scale assault on Iran employing both conventional
and tactical nuclear weapons. Within Iran there are more than 450 major
strategic targets, including numerous suspected nuclear-weapons-program
development sites. Many of the targets are hardened or are deep underground
and could not be taken out by conventional weapons, hence the nuclear option.
As in the case of Iraq, the response is not conditional on Iran actually
being involved in the act of terrorism directed against the United States.
Several senior Air Force officers involved in the planning are reportedly
appalled at the implications of what they are doing - that Iran is being
set up for an unprovoked nuclear attack- but no one is prepared to damage
his career by posing any objections.
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