Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Washington Examiner
February 27, 2007
By Rowan Scarborough, National Security Correspondent
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is committed at this point to a diplomatic path to force Iran to give up uranium enrichment that could lead to nuclear bomb production.
“We are pursuing a diplomatic track — period,” said a senior administration official who deals with military issues.
British press reports over the weekend stirred up speculation that President Bush was near a decision to use military force against Iran. The BBC said U.S. Central Command has drawn up a war plan to strike nuclear and military sites. Vice President Dick Cheney added to the debate on a visit to Australia. He said all options for dealing with Tehran were on the table — a subtle threat of military force.
But the administration official said the military option is on the back burner. Bush is now focused on getting the U.N. Security Council to impose tough economic sanctions on Tehran. The process itself will be time–consuming. The president must first win Security Council approval, then give the sanctions time to force Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to end enrichment.
The senior administration official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he feared reprisal from superiors for talking to a reporter.
The U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency last week reported that Iran has increased enrichment activities, rather than ending them as a Security Council resolution had demanded.
U.S. Central Command, which oversees operations in the Persian Gulf, previously has said it has updated its target list for Iran as a routine procedure. Defense Secretary Robert Gates underscored that message Feb. 3 when he told reporters, “We are not planning for a war with Iran. ... The diplomatic process is working and I think that that’s where we are relying.”
Bush has ordered two Navy aircraft carriers, instead of the normal one, to stay in the region. But the administration official said this action was meant to soothe jittery Persian Gulf allies who fear a missile attack from Iran.
Timing for an attack is also not good. Any strike on Shiite-dominated Iran would likely further inflame the already volatile situation in Iraq at the very moment the Bush administration is trying to reach Sunni-Shiite reconciliation.
“The best way to resolve this would be to have Iran come to the table,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Fox News Sunday. “I’ve said that I am prepared to meet my counterpart or an Iranian representative at any time, if Iran will suspend its enrichment and reprocessing activities.”
Gates, at his Senate confirmation hearing, described attacking Iran as an “absolute last resort.” He also said, “I think that we have seen in Iraq that once war is unleashed, it becomes unpredictable.”
February 27, 2007
By Rowan Scarborough, National Security Correspondent
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is committed at this point to a diplomatic path to force Iran to give up uranium enrichment that could lead to nuclear bomb production.
“We are pursuing a diplomatic track — period,” said a senior administration official who deals with military issues.
British press reports over the weekend stirred up speculation that President Bush was near a decision to use military force against Iran. The BBC said U.S. Central Command has drawn up a war plan to strike nuclear and military sites. Vice President Dick Cheney added to the debate on a visit to Australia. He said all options for dealing with Tehran were on the table — a subtle threat of military force.
But the administration official said the military option is on the back burner. Bush is now focused on getting the U.N. Security Council to impose tough economic sanctions on Tehran. The process itself will be time–consuming. The president must first win Security Council approval, then give the sanctions time to force Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to end enrichment.
The senior administration official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he feared reprisal from superiors for talking to a reporter.
The U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency last week reported that Iran has increased enrichment activities, rather than ending them as a Security Council resolution had demanded.
U.S. Central Command, which oversees operations in the Persian Gulf, previously has said it has updated its target list for Iran as a routine procedure. Defense Secretary Robert Gates underscored that message Feb. 3 when he told reporters, “We are not planning for a war with Iran. ... The diplomatic process is working and I think that that’s where we are relying.”
Bush has ordered two Navy aircraft carriers, instead of the normal one, to stay in the region. But the administration official said this action was meant to soothe jittery Persian Gulf allies who fear a missile attack from Iran.
Timing for an attack is also not good. Any strike on Shiite-dominated Iran would likely further inflame the already volatile situation in Iraq at the very moment the Bush administration is trying to reach Sunni-Shiite reconciliation.
“The best way to resolve this would be to have Iran come to the table,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Fox News Sunday. “I’ve said that I am prepared to meet my counterpart or an Iranian representative at any time, if Iran will suspend its enrichment and reprocessing activities.”
Gates, at his Senate confirmation hearing, described attacking Iran as an “absolute last resort.” He also said, “I think that we have seen in Iraq that once war is unleashed, it becomes unpredictable.”