Is the US and its allies planning to launch a nuclear war against Iran?

[EnumaElish]

The launching of an outright war using nuclear warheads against Iran is now in the final planning stages.

Coalition partners, which include the US, Israel and Turkey are in "an advanced stage of readiness".

Various military exercises have been conducted, starting in early 2005. In turn, the Iranian Armed Forces have also conducted large scale military maneuvers in the Persian Gulf in December in anticipation of a US sponsored attack.

Since early 2005, there has been intense shuttle diplomacy between Washington, Tel Aviv, Ankara and NATO headquarters in Brussels.

In recent developments, CIA Director Porter Goss on a mission to Ankara, requested Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan "to provide political and logistic support for air strikes against Iranian nuclear and military targets." Goss reportedly asked " for special cooperation from Turkish intelligence to help prepare and monitor the operation." (DDP, 30 December 2005).

In turn, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has given the green light to the Israeli Armed Forces to launch the attacks by the end of March:

All top Israeli officials have pronounced the end of March, 2006, as the deadline for launching a military assault on Iran... The end of March date also coincides with the IAEA report to the UN on Iran's nuclear energy program. Israeli policymakers believe that their threats may influence the report, or at least force the kind of ambiguities, which can be exploited by its overseas supporters to promote Security Council sanctions or justify Israeli military action.

(James Petras, Israel's War Deadline: Iran in the Crosshairs, Global Research, December 2005)

The US sponsored military plan has been endorsed by NATO, although it is unclear, at this stage, as to the nature of NATO's involvement in the planned aerial attacks.

More on "Nuclear War against Iran"

 

[Cyrus]

The US simply will not nuke another country. Look at how the world always points their finger at us for bombing Japan. It simply is not going to happen. IMO, this is just America moving its chess pieces to put pressure on Iran. The question will be if Iran calls America on its bluff. I say, with 80% certainty, they will call America on its bluff. They know America just doesn’t have the resources, money or manpower, to fight three wars at once. Iran has the ability to rampantly step up the insurgent attacks in Iraq. So it’s a very bold but risky move by the US government. I would say there will be some small tactical strikes by stealth bombers at suspected military sites, but that would be about it.

It apperas they want to use "mini-nukes" that explode underground. If you have ever been to the middle east, you would know that this is a bad idea and is not safe for civilians. Most of the construction is not made to withstand earthquakes. Look what happened not to long ago. This will backfire and kill many unintended civilians because of the shock waves created underground, destroying peoples homes.

 

[russ_watters]

BS. Every bit of it.

 

[Cyrus]

Which russ, Me the article or both?

 

[BobG]

The US simply will not nuke another country. Look at how the world always points their finger at us for bombing Japan. It simply is not going to happen. IMO, this is just America moving its chess pieces to put pressure on Iran. The question will be if Iran calls America on its bluff. I say, with 80% certainty, they will call America on its bluff. They know America just doesn’t have the resources, money or manpower, to fight three wars at once. Iran has the ability to rampantly step up the insurgent attacks in Iraq. So it’s a very bold but risky move by the US government. I would say there will be some small tactical strikes by stealth bombers at suspected military sites, but that would be about it.

It apperas they want to use "mini-nukes" that explode underground. If you have ever been to the middle east, you would know that this is a bad idea and is not safe for civilians. Most of the construction is not made to withstand earthquakes. Look what happened not to long ago. This will backfire and kill many unintended civilians because of the shock waves created underground, destroying peoples homes.

The article is BS. However, when has international opinion affected Bush policy? The response to Iran will be affected much more by the number of options automatically taken off the table due to Iraq than by international opinion.