Yesterday, Cheney and his minions used the UK Telegraph to warn Iran about the potential for an Israeli airstrike coming through Iraqi airspace. Today, the Pentagon responded in the Times of London.
SOME of America’s most senior military commanders are prepared to resign if the White House orders a military strike against Iran, according to highly placed defence and intelligence sources.
Tension in the Gulf region has raised fears that an attack on Iran is becoming increasingly likely before President George Bush leaves office. The Sunday Times has learnt that up to five generals and admirals are willing to resign rather than approve what they consider would be a reckless attack.
“There are four or five generals and admirals we know of who would resign if Bush ordered an attack on Iran,” a source with close ties to British intelligence said. “There is simply no stomach for it in the Pentagon, and a lot of people question whether such an attack would be effective or even possible.”
A British defence source confirmed that there were deep misgivings inside the Pentagon about a military strike. “All the generals are perfectly clear that they don’t have the military capacity to take Iran on in any meaningful fashion. Nobody wants to do it and it would be a matter of conscience for them.
“There are enough people who feel this would be an error of judgment too far for there to be resignations.”
A generals’ revolt on such a scale would be unprecedented. “American generals usually stay and fight until they get fired,” said a Pentagon source. Robert Gates, the defence secretary, has repeatedly warned against striking Iran and is believed to represent the view of his senior commanders.
The threat of a wave of resignations coincided with a warning by Vice-President Dick Cheney that all options, including military action, remained on the table.
One of the authors of this this piece is Michael Smith of Downing Street Minutes fame. It looks like this is a real leak from real malcontents. You might remember that I thought Robert Gates was the best nominee that we were going to get for Defense Secretary and that we shouldn’t waste our time opposing him. I thought his appointment was a defeat for the neo-conservatives and I didn’t want to screw it up by quibbling over his memory defense in the Iran-Contra affair. He wasn’t involved in Iran-Contra, he just knew about it and fudged his testimony over when he knew. Lying to Congress should preclude you from ever working in government again, but these are extraordinary times. And it looks like Gates has stood up to the Vice-President and, along with chairman of the Joint Chiefs Peter Pace, he has empowered reasonable army generals to feel they can speak up (at least privately).
It looks like we need to start reading the British papers each morning before we read our own. They are getting all the scoops and propaganda now.
