WORLD / America
US aims to dampen talk of striking Iran
(AP/Reuters)
Updated: 2006-04-10 08:45
WASHINGTON - The White House on Sunday sought to dampen the idea of a
U.S. military strike on Iran, saying the United States is conducting
"normal defense and intelligence planning" as President Bush seeks a
diplomatic solution to Tehran's suspected nuclear weapons program.
Administration officials �� from President Bush on down �� have left open
the possibility of a military response if Iran does not end its nuclear
ambitions. Several reports published Sunday said the administration was
studying options for military strikes; one account raised the possibility
of using nuclear bombs against Iran's underground nuclear sites.
Iranian students hold a placard during a protest against negotiation with
the U.S. in front of the Iran Supreme National Security Council's
building in Tehran, Iran April 8, 2006. [Reuters]
Britain's foreign secretary called the idea of a nuclear strike
"completely nuts."
Dan Bartlett, counselor to Bush, cautioned against reading too much into
administration planning.
"The president's priority is to find a diplomatic solution to a problem
the entire world recognizes," Bartlett told The Associated Press on
Sunday. "And those who are drawing broad, definitive conclusions based on
normal defense and intelligence planning, are ill-informed and are not
knowledgeable of the administration's thinking on Iran."
Experts say a military strike on Iran would be risky and complicated.
U.S. forces already are preoccupied with Iraq and Afghanistan, and an
attack against Iran could inflame U.S. problems in the Muslim world.
Critics of the George W. Bush administration expressed alarm about
explosive new reports that the president is mulling military options to
knock out Iran's nuclear program.
Retired General Anthony Zinni, the former head of US Central Command,
told US television Sunday that he had no detailed knowledge of the
alleged military plans, but he suggested a preemptive strike against
Iran's nuclear program would be extremely risky.
"Any military plan involving Iran is going to be very difficult. We
should not fool ourselves to think it will just be a strike and then it
will be over," said Zinni.
"The Iranians will retaliate, and they have many possibilities in an area
where there are many vulnerabilities, from our troop positions to the oil
and gas in the region that can be interrupted, to attacks on Israel, to
the conduct of terrorism," he said.
Zinni made his remarks after the publication of a pair of reports this
weekend saying that the administration is seriously considering military
action against Iran, amid a stalemate in diplomatic efforts.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, in an interview with the British
Broadcasting Corp., said Britain would not launch a pre-emptive strike on
Iran and he was as "certain as he could be" that neither would the U.S.
He said he has a high suspicion that Iran is developing a civil nuclear
capability which in turn could be used for nuclear weapons, but there is
"no smoking gun" to prove it and justify military action.
"I understand people's frustration with the diplomatic process," Straw
said. "It takes a long time and is quite a subtle process. The reason why
we're opposed to military action is because it's an infinitely worse
option and there's no justification for it."
The U.N. Security Council has demanded Iran suspend its uranium
enrichment program. But Iran has so far refused to halt its nuclear
activity, saying the small-scale enrichment project was strictly for
research and not for development of nuclear weapons.
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