Russian General Says US Continues Preperations For Military Action Against Iran - Interfax
"April 8, 2007 MOSCOW- Interfax-AVN - The release of the 15 British sailors and marines captured by Iran has robbed the U.S. of a pretext to attack Iran, but the U.S. has not given up plans to attack Iran militarily, said Col. Gen. Leonid Ivashov, president of the Academy for Geopolitical Problems, a Russian think tank.
"Preparations to strike Iran's strategic facilities continue. Three major groups of U.S. forces are still in the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf. Altogether, they have up to 450 cruise missiles on alert," the general told Interfax-AVN.
"Military operations against Tehran will begin with the launch of at least two unexpected strikes using Tomahawk cruise missiles and air power in order to disable Iran's air defense capabilities," he said.
"According to our data, up to 150 aircraft are to be involved in each strike on Iran. Land-based air defense systems will be disabled in the first place, then mobile short-range systems, which Tehran has (including some 30 new systems)," he said. Primary targets will include command centers, air defense installations, the navy, airfields, ports and docking facilities, the general said.
"Nuclear facilities may be secondary targets. According to expert assessments, at least 20 such facilities need to be destroyed in order to stop Iran's nuclear program," Ivashov said. Ivashov did not rule out that nuclear weapons may be used against Iran."
There's no doubt that the US wants to stand offshore and just use the entire country as target practice. Just what the Iranians and their trading partners the Russians and Chinese will do in retaliation remains to be seen.
"Preparations to strike Iran's strategic facilities continue. Three major groups of U.S. forces are still in the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf. Altogether, they have up to 450 cruise missiles on alert," the general told Interfax-AVN.
"Military operations against Tehran will begin with the launch of at least two unexpected strikes using Tomahawk cruise missiles and air power in order to disable Iran's air defense capabilities," he said.
"According to our data, up to 150 aircraft are to be involved in each strike on Iran. Land-based air defense systems will be disabled in the first place, then mobile short-range systems, which Tehran has (including some 30 new systems)," he said. Primary targets will include command centers, air defense installations, the navy, airfields, ports and docking facilities, the general said.
"Nuclear facilities may be secondary targets. According to expert assessments, at least 20 such facilities need to be destroyed in order to stop Iran's nuclear program," Ivashov said. Ivashov did not rule out that nuclear weapons may be used against Iran."
There's no doubt that the US wants to stand offshore and just use the entire country as target practice. Just what the Iranians and their trading partners the Russians and Chinese will do in retaliation remains to be seen.
posted by nolocontendere at 9:28 PM
3 Comments:
Their response will be an exercise in pure realpolitik. They will begin working to undermine the hegemonic empire, first by undermining its currency, later by proxy wars and end-around resource arrangements (for oil, metals, etc.).
China is in a precarious situation, holding such massive debt instruments denominated in the hegemonic empire's currency. Any specific action by China to undermine the dollar's value will hurt itself, whether it entails selling its dollar holdings short or refusing to purchase new US government debt instruments. But China has a growing need for oil, and will continue to seek supplies that cannot be threatened by US action.
The moral outrage on the part of the entire world, which will be magnified tenfold if nuclear weapons are used, will be the catalyst necessary to finally reduce the US to pariah status. Appetites for US cultural products (movies, tv, music) will dwindle, US products and symbolism will be scorned and savaged, and the condign blowback which will inevitably arrive at our shores, both in the form of political attacks and financial debility, will serve to strengthen the US's nascent gestapo-like domestic arrangements.
In 20 years the two power centers of the world will be Europe, and China, followed by a vibrant South America and Malaysia. Anything of value in the US will be Chinese or European owned, purchased at pennies to the Euro, and the disillusioned American survivors will be left to rot in their own peculiar howdy-doody dystopia.
Most excellent analysis, oarwell - you might have a crystal ball there. I believe the technology surrounding nuclear weaponry has advanced to the point that any detected radiation will be blamed on the Iranians themselves, or perhaps they just don't care, after all many tons of 'depleted' uranium has poisoned the region along with the Baltics and Afghanistan too.
I think you're spot on with domestic tyranny. Any response from the rest of the world will be an excuse for internal repression. It'll be interesting to see how the brownshirts spin that one
Interesting thought about the allocation of blame for post-"surgical" strike radiation levels. The Iranian leader's impromptu announcement that they can produce industrial levels of enriched uranium would seem, when viewed a certain way, to dovetail nicely with post-attack denials by the US that nuclear weapons were used. One wonders why he would make such a provocative announcement when 3 US carrier groups are poised to strike his nation?
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