US military Operations ongoing in Iran right now (for Israel)
Col. Sam Gardiner on CNN, 9/18/06
http://thinkprogress.org/col-sam-gardiner-on-cnn-91806/
BLITZER: How likely is the U.S. strike against Iran? And would it lead
to all-out war? Joining us now is retired U.S. Air Force colonel Sam
Gardiner. He has taught strategy and military operations at the
National War College, the Air War College, and the Naval War College.
Colonel thanks very much for coming in. He just prepared a paper for
the Century Foundation entitled "Considering the U.S. Military Option
For Iran." You speak to a lot of people plugged in. What is your
bottom line? How close in your opinion is the Bush Administration to
giving that go ahead.
GARDINER: It's been given. In fact, we've probably been executing
military operations inside Iran for at least 18 months. The evidence is
overwhelming
BLITZER: Wait. Wait. Let me press you.
GARDINER: Sure.
BLITZER: When you say it's been given. The president says he wants
diplomacy to work to convince the Iranian government to stop enriching
uranium, not go forward. "I would tell the Iranian people that we
have no desire for conflict." He told David Ignatius of the
Washington Post the other day. So what does that mean, the order has
been given?
GARDINER: We are conducting military operations inside Iran right now.
The evidence is overwhelming. From both the Iranians, Americans, and
from congressional sources.
BLITZER: What is "military operation?" Define that.
GARDINER: Sure. They probably have had two objectives going back 18
months. The first was to gather intelligence. Where is the Iranian
nuclear program? The second has been to prepare dissident groups for
phase two which will be the strike, which will come as the next phase,
I think.
BLITZER: Preparing intelligence, that's understandable using all
sorts of means. They want to know what the Iranians are up to in terms
of their nuclear program. But are you suggesting that U.S. military
forces, special operations forces, or others are on the ground right
now in Iran.
GARDINER: Yes, sir. Certainly. Absolutely clear the evidence is
overwhelming from lots of sources, and, again, most of them you can
read in the public. Seymore Hersch has done good work on it. There are
lots of other people who have done that. I have talked to Iranians. I
asked an Iranian ambassador to the IAEA, what's this I hear about
Americans being there? He said to me, well, we've captured some
people who worked with them. We've confirmed that they're there.
BLITZER: Yeah, but, you know, these guys - the Iranians, you can't
necessarily believe what they're saying. They could arrest some
dissidents in Iran and say these are American spies. They do that all
the time.
GARDINER: Sure. Sure. The House Committee on Emerging Threats tried to
have a hearing some weeks ago in which they asked the Department of
State and Defense to come and answer this question because it's
serious enough to be answered without congressional approval, and they
didn't come to the hearing. There are sources that I have talked to
on the Hill who believe that that's true and that it's being done
without congressional oversight.
BLITZER: Look, I was once a Pentagon correspondent many years ago, and
in those days and in these days, as Jamie McIntire just reported, and
as you well know from your time in active duty in the Pentagon, in the
U.S. military, these guys are planning contingency operations for
almost everything. If Canada goes to war against the United States,
they have a contingency plan.
GARDINER: Okay, two differences. Number one, we have learned from TIME
Magazine today that some U.S. naval forces had been alerted for
deployment. That is a major step. That's first. Second thing is the
sources suggest the plan that's not in the Pentagon. The plan has
gone to the White House. That's not normal planning. When the plan
goes to the White House, that means we've gone to a different state.
BLITZER: You think it's possible there is a little psychological
warfare being played on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to rattle him. To spread
the word. To put out this kind of information. To get him nervous,
perhaps a little bit more agreeable to the diplomatic option.
GARDINER: It's possible. It's also possible that this path was
selected a long time ago. You recall that even before Gulf II that a
time when the president said we have no plan. I have no plan on my
desk. In the summer of 2002 we began bombing Iraq. Operation Southern
Focus, without congressional approval, without the U.N. sanctions, we
went ahead and began bombing.
BLITZER: The argument at that time is if there were violations of the
no-fly zone, U.S. war planes were flying in the north and the south and
there were rockets or anti-aircraft fire going up, they could take
those out.
GARDINER: Yes, but it was a campaign to begin the war before the war
began. You know, I would suggest the evidence is there.
BLITZER: You see a similar pattern right now.
GARDINER: Exactly.
BLITZER: We're going to follow this closely. Colonel Sam Gardener,
thank you very much. We look forward to reading your report that the
Century Foundation is putting out as well.
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Iran: The Next War (for Israel):
http://www.itszone.co.uk/zone0/viewtopic.php?t=56761
What War with Iran (for Israel) Will Look Like:
http://www.itszone.co.uk/zone0/viewtopic.php?t=60022
The Hoekstra-Harman Hoax
How the War Party plans to lie us into war - again
http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=9702
SCANDAL: 9/11 Commissioners Bowed to Pressure to Suppress Main Motive
for the 9/11 Attacks:
http://representativepress.blogspot....nt-inside.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1bm2GPoFfg
Next Phase of the Middle East War:
http://www.warwithoutend.co.uk/zone0...ic.php?t=59593