What if Israel bombed Iran? The view from Washington. Washington Post op-ed by .
For months, Israel has threatened to strike Iran’s nuclear sites. The United States has urged restraint. If such an operation were launched, how might Washington react?
Comments
Weighing Benefits and Costs of Military Action Against Iran, Morton Abramowitz, Amb., Richard L. Armitage, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Nicholas Burns, Amb., Stephen A. Cheney BrigGen, Joseph Cirincione, Edward P. Djerejian, Amb., James Dobbins, William J. Fallon, Adm., Leslie H. Gelb, Chuck Hagel, Sen., Lee H. Hamilton, Stephen B. Heintz, Carla A. Hills, Frank Kearney, LTG., Daniel C. Kurtzer, Amb., William H. Luers, Amb., Ellen Laipson, Jessica T. Mathews, William G. Miller, Amb., Gregory S. Newbold, LtGen., Sam Nunn, Sen., Thomas R. Pickering, Amb., Joe Sestak, Vice. Adm., Ann-Marie Slaughter, Paul Volcker, James Walsh, John C. Whitehead, Lawrence B. Wilkerson, Col., Timothy E. Wirth, Sen., Frank G. Wisner, Amb., Anthony C. Zinni, Gen, http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/IranReport_091112_E…
<i>At a time when debate on this critical issue is often driven by politics and based on unexamined assumptions about the ability of military action to achieve U.S. objectives, this paper seeks to provide a foundation for clear thinking about the potential use of force against Iran. The paper’s authors and signers, a bipartisan group of senior national security experts, recognize that this debate is part of a broader con- versation about U.S. policy toward Iran. But we believe that it will be impossible to make a rational assessment of the role of military force in any overall Iran strategy, without first carefully assessing the likely benefits and costs of military action.<i/>
It reads like an Iranian Pearl Harbor story, only unlike the Japanese attack this one has the defender planning for just such an attack for well over a decade now. And, the story totally leaves out Iran's retaliatory strikes and the ensuing episodic and lengthy armed conflict that follows.
Also, I'm surprised Karim used the old Khomeini 'great satan" term, he should know better. That's so 80's. Nowadays those people have been using the term "global arrogance" or a loosely rendered equivalent of "ZOG" in Persian.