Intelligence

NEWSWEEK: CIA, DIA Have War-Gamed Likely Consequences of a U.S. Pre-Emptive Strike on Iran's Nuclear Facilities; No One Liked the Outcome

NEWSWEEK: CIA, DIA Have War-Gamed Likely Consequences of a U.S. Pre-Emptive Strike on Iran's Nuclear Facilities; No One Liked the Outcome

Administration Officials Are Now Pinning Hopes on Regime Change By Covert Means, or Armed Force, If Necessary
NEW YORK, Sept. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- As the threat from Iran and its nuclear capabilities becomes more real, Newsweek has learned that the CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency have war-gamed the likely consequences of a U.S. pre-emptive strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. No one liked the outcome. As an Air Force source tells it, "The war-games were unsuccessful at preventing the conflict from escalating."

Instead, administration hawks are pinning their hopes on regime change in Tehran-by covert means, preferably, but by force of arms if necessary, report National Security Correspondent John Barry and Special Correspondent Dan Ephron in the September 27 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, September 20).

Papers on the idea have circulated inside the administration, mostly labeled "draft" or "working draft" to evade congressional subpoena powers and the Freedom of Information Act. Informed sources say the memos echo the administration's abortive Iraq strategy: oust the existing regime, swiftly install a pro-U.S. government in its place (extracting the new regime's promise to renounce any nuclear ambitions) and get out. This daredevil scheme horrifies U.S. military leaders, and there's no evidence that it has won any backers at the cabinet level, Newsweek reports.

September 20, 2004 at 11:45 AM in Iran | Permalink | TrackBack (56) | Top of page | Blog Home