Votos totais: 10
Votação encerrada: Fevereiro 23, 2007, 05:20:25 pm
In Washington it is hardly a secret that the same people in and around the administration who brought you Iraq are preparing to do the same for Iran. The Pentagon, acting under instructions from Vice President Dick Cheney's office, has tasked the United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM) with drawing up a contingency plan to be employed in response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States. The plan includes a large-scale assault on Iran employing both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons. Within Iran there are more than 450 major strategic targets, including numerous suspected nuclear-weapons-program development sites. Many of the targets are hardened or are deep underground and could not be taken out by conventional weapons, hence the nuclear option. As in the case of Iraq, the response is not conditional on Iran actually being involved in the act of terrorism directed against the United States. Several senior Air Force officers involved in the planning are reportedly appalled at the implications of what they are doing - that Iran is being set up for an unprovoked nuclear attack- but no one is prepared to damage his career by posing any objections.
The U.N.'s nuclear watchdog said on Thursday Iran had failed to meet a February 21 deadline to suspend enrichment of uranium, exposing Tehran to possible new sanctions over concerns it seeks to produce an atomic bomb.The International Atomic Energy Agency said in a report Iran had installed two cascades, or networks, of 164 centrifuges in its underground Natanz enrichment plant with another two cascades close to completion.
BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner says the trigger for such an attack reportedly includes any confirmation that Iran was developing a nuclear weapon - which it denies.Natanz, IranThe Natanz plant is buried under concrete, metal and earthAlternatively, our correspondent adds, a high-casualty attack on US forces in neighbouring Iraq could also trigger a bombing campaign if it were traced directly back to Tehran.Long range B2 stealth bombers would drop so-called "bunker-busting" bombs in an effort to penetrate the Natanz site, which is buried some 25m (27 yards) underground.The BBC's Tehran correspondent Frances Harrison says the news that there are now two possible triggers for an attack is a concern to Iranians.
The aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis arrived with its battle group in the Sea of Oman, joining the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower already in the region.
Assad has ordered increased production of long-range missiles and instructed the Syrian army to position its anti-tank missiles closer to the Syrian border with Israel, on the Golan Heights.
"Our cooperation is based on a strategic pact and unity against common threats. We can have a common front against Israel's threats"
EUA pedem a Israel que rejeite qualquer contato com a Síriaa secretária de Estado americana, Condoleezza Rice, foi perguntada por diplomatas israelenses durante sua visita a Jerusalém esta semana sobre se era necessário comprovar se o presidente sírio, Bashar al-Assad, fala sério quando faz chamados à paz.A resposta da chefe da diplomacia americana foi taxativa, segundo as fontes diplomáticas: "Nem se quiserem".
Possívelmente a votação mais parva de sempre feita no FD.Tenho dito.