Posted on 04/17/2010 5:33:08 PM PDT by Sub-Driver
Gates Says U.S. Lacks Strategy to Curb Iran’s Nuclear Drive By DAVID E. SANGER and THOM SHANKER
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has warned in a secret three-page memorandum to top White House officials that the United States does not have an effective long-range policy for dealing with Iran’s steady progress toward nuclear capability, according to government officials familiar with the document.
Several officials said the highly classified analysis, written in January to President Obama’s national security adviser, Gen. James L. Jones, touched off an intense effort inside the Pentagon, the White House and the intelligence agencies to develop new options for Mr. Obama. They include a revised set of military alternatives, still under development, to be considered should diplomacy and sanctions fail to force Iran to change course.
Officials familiar with the memo’s contents would describe only portions dealing with strategy and policy, and not sections that apparently dealt with secret operations against Iran, or how to deal with Persian Gulf allies.
One senior official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the memo, described the document as “a wake-up call.” But White House officials dispute that view, insisting that for 15 months they had been conducting detailed planning for many possible outcomes regarding Iran’s nuclear program.
In an interview on Friday, General Jones declined to speak about the memorandum. But he said: “On Iran, we are doing what we said we were going to do. The fact that we don’t announce publicly our entire strategy for the world to see doesn’t mean we don’t have a strategy that anticipates the full range of contingencies — we do.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Duh!
...... and the whole world is laughing .
Double Duh!
Gates must be LURKING ... we’ve been saying that for years now.
In further news, water is wet.
If this is true (it’s the Slimes, so it’s a tossup), then Gates needs to be fired ASAP. It’s his job to develop such strategies, and to keep them current as situations change.
This from a "highly classified analysis" ?
Secret document shh don’t tell anyone
Where’s Capt. Obvious?
Some people are just gifted and that's why they migrate to positions of power....
The Iranians know Obama’s NSS was due last July.
They know he cannot present his own ideas to the US Congress.
So basically, they admit that they have no policy to prevent it, but are making detailed plans regarding what to do when Iran finally develops its nuke. Pathetic. Only months ago, Iran was on the verge of a democratic revolution, and we did absolutely nothing to support it. Instead, we helped bolster the current regime by granting it legitimacy. I swear Obama is doing this on purpose.
>> Gates Says U.S. Lacks Strategy to Curb Iran’s Nuclear Drive
I wonder if they tried the “face to face conversation” deterrent.
Someone don’t like Gates, and they want him out. And, wow....a secret document gets leaked.
“He puts one of yours in the hospital, you put one of his in the morgue. Its the Chicago way!”
Gates will be gone by the May Day parade.
Bush's fault.
Shocking. I never could have figured this out by myself.
If that is true General Jones, a responsible administration would have shared that strategy with the Pentagon and Gates since they would be tasked with carrying out the military portion of any "overseas contingency".
Obviously, since Gates authored the letter - you haven't done that.
Does this mean that Obama has taken any military options off the table in confronting Iran?
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