U.S. Plans Envision Broad Attack On Iran

Courtesy Of: The New York Times

By REUTERS
Published: January 19, 2007
Filed at 7:49 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. contingency planning for military action against Iran's nuclear program goes beyond limited strikes and would effectively unleash a war against the country, a former U.S. intelligence analyst said on Friday.

``I've seen some of the planning ... You're not talking about a surgical strike,'' said Wayne White, who was a top Middle East analyst for the State Department's bureau of intelligence and research until March 2005.

``You're talking about a war against Iran'' that likely would destabilize the Middle East for years, White told the Middle East Policy Council, a Washington think tank.

``We're not talking about just surgical strikes against an array of targets inside Iran. We're talking about clearing a path to the targets'' by taking out much of the Iranian Air Force, Kilo submarines, anti-ship missiles that could target commerce or U.S. warships in the Gulf, and maybe even Iran's ballistic missile capability, White said.

``I'm much more worried about the consequences of a U.S. or Israeli attack against Iran's nuclear infrastructure,'' which would prompt vigorous Iranian retaliation, he said, than civil war in Iraq, which could be confined to that country.