Larisa Alexandrovna - Pentagon Moves to Second-Stage Planning for Iran

[kpete]

Senior intel official: Pentagon moves to second-stage planning for Iran strike option

Larisa Alexandrovna
Published: Thursday September 21, 2006


The Pentagon's top brass has moved into second-stage contingency planning for a potential military strike on Iran, one senior intelligence official familiar with the plans tells RAW STORY.

The official, who is close to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest ranking officials of each branch of the US military, says the Chiefs have started what is called "branches and sequels" contingency planning.

"The JCS has accepted the inevitable," the intelligence official said, "and is engaged in serious contingency planning to deal with the worst case scenarios that the intelligence community has been painting."

A second military official, although unfamiliar with these latest scenarios, said there is a difference between contingency planning -- which he described as "what if, then what" planning -- and "branches and sequels," which takes place after an initial plan has been decided upon.

more at:
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Pentagon_moves_to_secondstage_planning_for_0921.html

[aquart]

1. Planning? These bozos?

What do they plan to use as an invasion force? The brownies?

[Cassandra]

4. That was my first thought.

Now they plan?
Let's not throw brownies at them. Blondies maybe, or lemon squares?

[LibertyLover]

7. Bring up the big guns

chocolate blackout cake.

[northernsoul]

25. mmmm.... lemon squares.....

:donut:

[aquart]

34. No, I want all the lemon squares for me!

[Cassandra]

35. Perhaps we should move this thread...

to the cooking and baking forum.

[Leopolds Ghost]

28. Monkeys... from Morocco. (it worked for Pirates of the Carribbean!)

[KamaAina]

37. Wouldn't those be "macacas"?

:P

[EVDebs]

42. Wargames the first time around were useless

Sam Gardiner and NPR I believe showed this...

[oblivious]

46. OK, here's the plan boys: Bomb 'em until they surrender. Easy as pie.

Yer right general. Foolproof plan. Genius.

[Tyler Durden]

2. How simply fucking delightful...if not surprizing.

[filer]

3. No surprises here.

This attack is just as predictable as the one on Iraq. My only question is when? Before or after the November elections?

[robertpaulsen]

5. K & R for Larisa!

:kick:

[Wiley50]

6. On schedule for Nov 1 Right before the midterms

UUPs! We're at wae now.
Can't change horses in mid chaos
and all that crap

Col Gardner says minesweepers to get there Nov 1

[AntiFascist]

8. What would the Religious Right think....

if we wiped out a government that oppresses gay people? (using reverse psychology here).

[nancyr]

9. Who will be doing the actual fighting in the new war?

Aren't we stretched just a little bit thin here????

[AntiFascist]

10. Airforce bombers, apparently....

Latest I've seen is that they're talking about bombing government targets in addition to nuclear facilities. I don't know how many forces on the ground would be required for this. It sounds more like the first Gulf War, moreso than the Iraq invasion.

[leveymg]

13. And every grunt sitting in Iraq.

Expect a Shi'a and Sunni uprising. This will IMMEDIATELY turn into a regional war. Expect Iran to lob missiles at Qatar and Israel, as well, and possibly Saudi Arabia. Use 'em or lose them.

And, what about the Straits -- how does the Navy plan to counter all those anti-ship missiles hidden in caves and under cottages along 300 miles of the eastern Gulf?

Is anyone planning for this? Until CENTCOM and the Navy gets pulled into this, and we see everyone repositioned or hunkered down, this is still just a STRATCOM flight of fancy. In itself, not all that convincing.

[AntiFascist]

23. Part of the strategy may be to end the civil war in Iraq...

by uniting Islam against a common enemey? Always look for clues by assuming that B*SH is telling a direct lie: "We are not at war with Islam, this is propaganda." (Not yet, anyway)

I would assume Israel is used to having missiles lobbed at them. Look toward them to do some of the dirty work.

Did you know that Switzerland also has a pretty good air force? If anyone is allied with the Saudis... (WWIII scenario)

[leveymg]

30. Sure. Switzerland plans to send this crack unit to defend the oil fields.

[AntiFascist]

39. LOL, I'm just pointing out that there are other foreign powers....

which might come into play in a worst-case scenario:

http://www.scramble.nl/ch.htm

"Its high performance radar allows the F/A-18 to detect and simultaneously engage multiple low flying targets with its long-range guided missiles, by day and night and in bad weather conditions. The Hornet is also well tested in electronic warfare. This aircraft, developed to operate from aircraft carriers, is very well fitted for our mountainous regions and narrow valleys as well as our short runways"

[leveymg]

40. Gosh, maybe the Swiss Luftwaffe can share some spare parts for F-5s

Didn't think any European Air Force was still flying those. Iran still has a few.

[symbolman]

31. This was all covered in a Time online article

more than a week ago, contingencies for mining the straits or not allowing the mining. Many have said that there are intelligent agents working in Iran already. Don't see news here, just another angle on previously published material.

[bvar22]

14. That will be the start.

When Iran responds with a land attack on the US Forces in Iraq, the Bush/Psychos will use Tactical Nukes (Cute Nukes) to stop them and claim Self-Defense.

Wait and See.
My bets are DOWN.

[Kurovski]

11. "...the inevitable"

K&R.

[Hubert Flottz]

12. They did such a great job planning Iraq

We should win in IRAN about 3067 or six months!

[saigon68]

16. A great Success in Iraq

"FREEDOM IS ON THE MARCH"

[Pachamama]

15. They have accepted the "inevitable"??? WTF?

The only reason War with Iran is "inevitable" is because the Bush Administration has decided it is, not because its real.

The neo-con cabal has decided that Iran is next....no matter what...

[Rex]

17. And the War Machine rolls on, over broken bodies and

through rivers of blood. Nothing will stop it. Ike warned us, to bad no one listened!

The Military Industrial Complex will eventually destroy human civilization as we know it.

Bank on it.

[Generator]

18. Scary stuff

I vacillate between thinking they can't do it, and they are as much crazy ideolgues as the leader of Iran (oh irony) and will. What a world!

On Democracy Now it sounded like all the have to do is blockade the harbor and then it's all over once Iran does something to defend itself.

[MrCoffee]

19. I'm calling bullshit on this one.

They don't even bother with first-stage planning anymore.

[Blackhatjack]

22. Don't 'misunderestimate' Bush, He doesn't need a plan to start a war

What part of this scenario does not ring true to you? It sounds just like the Iraq plan. We go in, win in hours, and are greeted in the streets as liberators. No post strike planning necessary.

[EVDebs]

53. Check this gem from '73...seems familiar

Published on Friday, January 2, 2004 by the New York Times
Britain Says U.S. Planned to Seize Oil in '73 Crisis
by Lizette Alvarez

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0102-01.htm

Due to the Saudis awareness of this plan, in deference to national sovereignty I assume, the plan was moved next door. I imagine Rummy and Cheney got their ideas from about the mid-70s too.

[Blackhatjack]

20. The News None Of Us Wanted To Hear, ...Now Can We Stop It????

Take the factual information in this excellent report, and add it to the opposition by former five(5)Joint Chiefs of Staff in regard to Bush's attempt to redefine Common Article 3 of the Geneva Convention, and you begin to get a picture of impending circumstances that could result in US soldiers being taken prisoner.

This is definitely stage two war planning.

It is my hope that the present members of the JCS did not resign so that they could oppose Bush later in pulling the trigger, and definitely oppose the use of nuclear weapons in Iran. If they resigned, Bush would fill the seats with yes men.

If this plan goes off around Nov 1, mark your calendars --there will be some kind of draft ordered within thirty(30) days thereafter. This will spark a bloody regional war in the Mideast which just might result in Israel using a nuclear weapon in response to attacks.

We are standing on the precipice of a huge, huge mistake. It may take top Pentagon Brass refusing to carry out the attack order of the Commander in CHief to save us. Who will come forward in Congress and oppose this, speak out against this? The time is now, not later. Bush is likely not to consult Congress at all before ordering the strike.

[EVDebs]

54. A pretext for another Congressional AUMF will be needed

in order to do something ... think along the lines of an Oct Surprise. They need something prior to Nov 7 in their psychotic little mindset of Milgram's 37.

[mtnester]

21. Site is slow but I got in finally

our government sucks

(Sadly, I am reduced to the above statement because I am wore out tired of screaming, and some days my loathing for BushCo is so intense, I reduce to simple words, and my thinking cap needs recharged)

[KamaAina]

38. *Your* thinking cap needs recharging?

What about Bush**'s?

[Joanne98]

24. Karl Rove has been promising an October Surprise!

I DARE them to invade another country JUST because it's an election year! GO FOR IT!

[Tigermoose]

26. How credible is this "Rawstory" group?

I've seen this site reference on a few subjects.

[Coexist]

27. I have no problem with the credibility of either Rawstory or Larisa

at all.

[mmonk]

29. Larisa is credible.

Why are you so skeptical (nothing wrong with that just wondering)?

[Cheney Killed Bambi]

33. I agree

Larisa A's reporting has been solid ever since I've followed it.

[bananas]

36. Larisa is a DUer

She has posted a lot here, and has earned an excellent reputation.
A lot of us share her hobby: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=user_profiles&u_id=163804

[leveymg]

41. I'll second that emotion

:banghead:

We're all very fond of LaLa. :hi:

[Fovea]

32. This could be the excuse for the

state of emergency the WH needs to cancel elections in the US.

It will also answer once and for all whether the Iranians already have the bomb.
I personally think they do, and that they are building as many as they can with
North Korean enriched fissionables.

When we bomb them, they will take out our troops in Iraq and hit Israel.
They will probably set one off in DC as well.

[mmonk]

48. You might want to contact the new Iran department

that has taken the place of OSP. They can use your opinion as intelligence they have gathered in order to strike Iran with nukes.

[Fovea]

50. They are just stupid enough to do it.

But like the CIA interrogators, I have to believe that the troop on the line understand better
what that might mean.

What it means to the sentient is that there is already an unacceptable risk, in light of Khan and the likelihood that the old Soviet Union
leaked weapons which would not only yeild fissionables, but prototypes around which to build a new series of weapons.

And while Bush** threatens and cajoles for a shiney, expensive missle shield, the first hostile nuke
to be detonated on American soil will be delivered in a cargo container. Even Tom Clancy knows this.

[mmonk]

52. They protected the Khan network and removed our eyes on Iran

when they got rid of Brewster Jennings & Associates.

[Blackhatjack]

43. PNAC NeoCons will be satisfied with nothing less than regional mideast war

There is no military solution to the problem presented by Iran. However, they want to take on the whole area thinking it will be easy, and that they will end up in control of the oil there.

[never cry wolf]

44. Rove is our savior

I don't think they'd dare, when has this admin EVER put policy over politics? They can't spin a new war successfully. The american public generally is aware of the lies and is fed up with the last one... Rove is evil incarnate, but he is not stupid... I think starting a new war at this point in time would be a death knell for the repubes and would be such a transparent political gambit even some of the blind 30% will question the motives...

I don't doubt that they'd like nothing more, but it would be mid-term death IMHO. With this crowd it's always about money or power. 60% of the US now realizes they were taken for a ride with regards to Iraq. The admin isn't even trying to sell half as hard on Iran... Yes, they can act unilaterally and are run by a bunch of idealistic nutjobs, but priority #1, before PNAC ideals and corporate profits is self survival...

They've tried to plant a notion but 70% of the US and 90% of the world is wary of another "the sky is falling", "cry wolf" modus operandi...

Maybe I am wrong

[al bupp]

45. I would inclined to dismiss this as speculation,

psy-ops on the Iranians (ie: saber rattling to get them to the table), or just routine cover-all-the-bases contingency planning from the people in the 5-sided building except for two truisms:

1) If you have a hammer, then all problems tend to look like nails.

2) The definition of insanity is doing the same thing but expecting different results.

What do we know about this admin? They have a lot of hammers, and they're "mad with power".

I say it don't look good.

[leveymg]

47. Maybe they want us to believe they're mad, like "Crazy Nixon" .

As the Watergate Investigation closed in, there were rumours of drunk Dick wandering the halls of the White House talking to portraits and issuing threats rising to DefCon 4. All intended to keep the Main Adversary at bay and away from the Middle East until the process of presidential removal could be completed.

Maybe, if we're lucky, it's all just a time-worn trick that's being played on us all.

[al bupp]

49. Since I regard any military action against Iran...

w/ the utmost misgivings, I sincerely hope that you're right, sir.

[countryjake]

51. kick