Pentagon sees Iran bombing as unsuccessful: report

Reuters ^

[markedmannerf]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top Pentagon officers have told the Bush administration that bombing Iranian nuclear facilities would probably fail to destroy that country's nuclear program, the New Yorker magazine reported on Sunday. ADVERTISEMENT

The senior commanders also warned that any attack launched if diplomacy fails to end the standoff over Iran's nuclear ambitions could have "serious economic, political, and military consequences for the United States," the article said, citing unidentified U.S. military officials.

"A crucial issue in the military's dissent, the officers said, is the fact that American and European intelligence agencies have not found specific evidence of clandestine activities or hidden facilities; the war planners are not sure what to hit," according to the report.

The U.S. military's experience in Iraq, where no weapons of mass destruction were found and the war continues, has affected its approach to Iran, the magazine quoted a high-ranking general as saying.

"The target array in Iran is huge, but it's amorphous," the unidentified general was quoted as saying. "We built this big monster with Iraq, and there was nothing there.

"This is son of Iraq."

The United States on Friday spurned Iranian calls for more time to study an offer of incentives to curb its nuclear fuel program, insisting Tehran must reply by the Group of Eight industrialized nations' deadline on July 5.

The article, by journalist Seymour Hersh, also questioned the effectiveness of U.S. targeting potential nuclear sites.

"Intelligence has also shown that for the past two years the Iranians have been shifting their most sensitive nuclear-related materials and production facilities, moving some into urban areas, in anticipation of a bombing raid," it said.

[dirtboy]

Pentagon sees Iran bombing as unsuccessful: report

My gawd, is there any secret that is sacred in this day and age?

[Bringbackthedraft]

"citing unidentified U.S. military officials" = Pvt Jones on Latrine Detail?

[Enchante]

Well take it with mountains of salt - any officers that would leak to the likes of Seymour "Traitor" Hersch have an agenda. The comments on Iraq sound like "revenge of the Clintonistas"...... there's much more to this than what appears in this biased article.

[JLAGRAYFOX]

Article by Seymour Hersh!!! A traitor through and through!!! Not worth commenting on!!!

[wolfcreek]

Could be a smokescreen. I doubt the Pentagon doesn't know where to bomb.

[Jameison]

Al Reuters with yet another "you can't attack Iran", agenda "journalism".
Sigh.
Straight to the garbage bin.

[MNJohnnie]

Well looks like we got another New York contest in written fiction going here.

Right. If I am a top level Bush appointee the VERY first people I am going to leak to is the New Yorker Magazine. Let me guess another "Seymour Hersch" exclusive scoop? What this the 2 or 3rd supposedly"secret" story on the Middle East they have supposedly "Uncovered". Just another "Flush the Koran" story.

Curious? "Top Pentagon Officials"? The heads of the Maintenance and Lawn keeper Unions maybe?

[MNJohnnie]

The article, by journalist Seymour Hersh, also questioned the effectiveness of U.S. targeting potential nuclear sites.

Bing bing bing! Winner! We have a winner. So is this the 2nd or the 3rd New Yorker article claiming this lie by old Sleazy Seymour?

[kjo]

I used to take the NEW YORKER; after Sept 11 they basically blamed the US for all the world's problems. Canceled it.

Don't believe ANYTHING they say. NOTHING. They hate middle Americans, Christians, and Republicans. If it were up to them we'd all be in jail.

[MNJohnnie]

More of the "Clinton Genaerals". Hmm maybe Wesely Clark is the "source" Notice they do not specific that the "source" is a ACTIVE duty General.

[DC Bound]

Are we now justified in believiing some kind of military action is in the offing? This story is such clear disinformation that something must be in the works.

[jimtorr]

This sounds to me like more belly-aching from the usual Clintonista political EX-generals.

[coconutt2000]

Besides learning that there are military officials who are so enamored of a political agenda that they're willing to manipulate public policy through anonymous leaks, I also learned that 500 rounds of WMD weapons found in Iraq are not worth mentioning.

The media is no longer manipulating facts to suit their needs, they're lying, fabricating, and deliberately trying to alter reality through repetition of what they'd like to be true.

It is appalling to the extreme.

[motorola7]

The article, by journalist Seymour Hersh, one of the most disgusting examples of the traitorous America-hating socialist left.....

[AmericaUnited]

"The target array in Iran is huge, but it's amorphous," the unidentified general was quoted as saying. "We built this big monster with Iraq, and there was nothing there

How come the "unidentified" source is always making DEM/RAT talking points.

[rogue yam]

The U.S. military's experience in Iraq, where no weapons of mass destruction were found...

500=0 using al-Reuters math.

[Right Wing Assault]

Could be a smokescreen. I doubt the Pentagon doesn't know where to bomb.

I bet they fed this loser a pile of misinformation so keep Iran guessing. We have a lot of friends in that country. I can't believe we don't also have a large amount of good information, too.

In case any Iranians mullahs are reading this, I am just kidding. We really know nothing at all. Trust me.

[markedmannerf]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seymour_Hersh

Hersh has written a series of articles for The New Yorker magazine detailing military and security matters surrounding the US-led invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq. In a 2004 article, he alleged that Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld circumvented the normal intelligence analysis function of the CIA in their quest to make the case for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Another article, Lunch with the Chairman, led Richard Perle to say that Hersh was the "closest thing American journalism has to a terrorist."

[Perdogg]

Well, I think that the US cannot rule out using weapons that are armed with 5-kt (or less) warheads.