WASHINGTON, April 29, 2008

"Hostile" Iran Sparks U.S. Attack Plan

Pentagon Wary Of Tehran's Expanding Nuclear Program And Support Of Iraqi Insurgents

    • Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tours the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, April 8, 2008.

      Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tours the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, April 8, 2008.  (ISIS)

    • Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tours the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, April 8, 2008.

      Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tours the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, April 8, 2008.  (ISIS)

    • Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tours the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, April 8, 2008.

      Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tours the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, April 8, 2008.  (ISIS)

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  • Timeline The U.S. And Iran

    Key events in once friendly, now contentious relationship between Washington and Tehran.

  • Timeline Iran Nuclear Chronology

    Events in development of Iran's nuclear program since it first came to light.

(CBS)  A second American aircraft carrier steamed into the Persian Gulf on Tuesday as the Pentagon ordered military commanders to develop new options for attacking Iran. CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports that the planning is being driven by what one officer called the "increasingly hostile role" Iran is playing in Iraq - smuggling weapons into Iraq for use against American troops.

"What the Iranians are doing is killing American servicemen and -women inside Iraq," said Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

U.S. officials are also concerned by Iranian harassment of U.S. ships in the Persian Gulf as well as Iran's still growing nuclear program. New pictures of Iran's uranium enrichment plant show the country's defense minister in the background, as if deliberately mocking a recent finding by U.S. intelligence that Iran had ceased work on a nuclear weapon.

No attacks are imminent and the last thing the Pentagon wants is another war, but Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen has warned Iran not to assume the U.S. military can't strike.

"I have reserve capability, in particular our Navy and our Air Force so it would be a mistake to think that we are out of combat capability," Mullen said.

Targets would include everything from the plants where weapons are made to the headquarters of the organization known as the Quds Force which directs operations in Iraq. Later this week Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is expected to confront the Iranians with evidence of their meddling and demand a halt.

If that doesn't produce results, the State Department has begun drafting an ultimatum that would tell the Iranians to knock it off - or else.


© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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by tbweb May 3, 2008 7:58 AM EDT
No matter how you slice it, Iran is getting away with killing and murdering Americans. In the U.S. there is no Time Limit on bringing murderers to justice for murder, the clock never expires for murder! There is no need to rush to attack Iran for killing Americans, that''s what Iran wants, for the U.S. to launch an ill advised and premature attack. No one kills Americans with impunity and eventually Iran with have to ante up for their deaths, all the U.S. needs to have is patience, patience, patience and take care of business on its terms, not Irans.

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by ranger101st2 May 2, 2008 3:44 PM EDT
Hey MSDMVP, don''t think for a minute coz you live in Europe, ur not a target. You are in range. You won''t like it when ur gov. says "the Iranians have ballistic missles that put our capital in range" ha, you ingrate, we kept the peace for 50 yrs., time you defend YOURSELVES. Oh, thats right, ur INCAPABLE. Peace and love dude, tell that to a wahhabi moslem...ha ha...man...
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by ranger101st2 May 2, 2008 3:37 PM EDT
I hope you Europeans that hate the US get a nuclear surprise from Iran since you don''t want Iran bombed and thier nuclear program destroyed. The Germans won''t even vote for sanctions. I wish Berlin was thier first target. You just don''t get it do you? Kill ALL Infidels. This means YOU. When are the European countries like France and Germany going to take more of a leadership role in this war? This is about IDEOLOGY, FREEDOMS, CULTURE. They want to push the clock back to 700AD. Keep letting those animals into ur countries. When they don''t get thier way, they will riot. They did it in the UK, France, Netherlands. You pacifist Europeans better WAKE UP!!
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by hefo-2009 May 2, 2008 12:41 PM EDT
Are you turly that naive MSDNVP? anything that happens in the WW3 scenario people keep crying about will hit Europe long before it reaches American soil.

In case you haven''t noticed Europe has just as much to worry about and lose as the US does, and is much much closer to Iran.
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by msdnvp May 2, 2008 12:36 PM EDT
You Americans are very blind, and stupid how many wars will you start ? I''m not a Arab nor a American but a European citizen, and i can tell you, i hate the Americans. and i hate the Arabs, you two countries belong together in hell. i really so hope Iran has nuclear bombs and i hope world war 3 becomes a reality for you Americans. because this side of the wall already hates USA and rest of the Arab nations.









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by jasn99-2009 May 2, 2008 9:33 AM EDT
If anyone in the moronic, idiotic Bush administration had done a comprehensive study of what could be expected when we overthrew Saddam, Iraq''s cozying up to Iran would come as no surprise. Saddam was a check on Iran''s power, which was why we spent millions supporting him in the 80''s. Now that we''ve opened up a can of worms in the middle east, they want to use the instability we created to justify actions against Iran. Come on people. Ten years of war with Afghanistan nearly bankrupted the Soviet Union and we''ve been in Iraq and Afghanistan for five. Our economy''s not looking so great. How much war coupled with tax cuts, can it stand before it collapses? And if anyone doesn''t think it could happen, remember Rome was great once too. Can we expect the brain trust in Washington to realize the tipping point?
Reply to this comment
by omaar-101 May 2, 2008 3:30 AM EDT
You people are Crazy..

Iran have no (WOMDS) and this will cause World War 3...

Genocide of a Race of People, just for Hate sake and LIES !!

This has been planned out for a long time and there will be Dire Consequences, this time..the European, Asian & Eastern powers will no longer take this International Bullying around of People in their Hemisphere

Wheres Irans (WOMD) ?

Idle Threats are meaningless, just like Clintons ''Obliteration'' of a nation of people, just to get Votes...When the Clintons are being paid handsomely by Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar & Other Arab Nations.

The Media is Bought & paid to Proliferate this Attack on Iran. 4,020 U.S. Soldiers Bodies & Over 100,000 Iraqi Bodies, are not Enough..huh


China & Russia are going to Retaliate...

Hillary Clinton and her ''Obliteration'' on Iran statement..Unacceptable & Very Biased
Reply to this comment
by omaar-101 May 2, 2008 3:28 AM EDT
You people are crazy..

Iran have no (WOMDS) and this will cause World War 3...

Genocide of a race of people, just for hates sake and LIES !!

This has been planned out for a long time and there will be Dire Consequences, this time..the European, Asian & Eastern powers will no longer take this International Bullying around of People in their Hemisphere

Wheres Irans (WOMD) ?

Idle Threats are meaningless, just like Clintons ''Obliteration'' of a nation of people, just to get Votes...When the Clintons are being paid handsomely by Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar & Other Arab Nations.

The Media is Bought & paid to Proliferate this Attack on Iran. 40020 U.S. Soldiers Bodies & Over 100,000 Iraqi Bodies, are not Enough..huh


China & Russia are going tyo Retaliate...

Hillary Clinton and her ''''Obliteration'''' on Iran statement..Unacceptable & very Biased
Reply to this comment
by omaar-101 May 2, 2008 3:21 AM EDT
You people are crazy..iran has no (WOMDS) and this will cause World War 3...Genocide of a race of people, just for hates sake and LIES !!

Wheres their (WOMD) ?


China & Russia are going tyo Retaliate...

Hillary Clinton and her ''Obliteration'' on Iran statement..Unacceptable & very Biased
Reply to this comment
by trishab4 May 2, 2008 2:36 AM EDT
This Iranian threat is FAR MORE SERIOUS than mny of us can imagine.

If the Western (still free)World does not take decisive action very soon- military included - to eliminate Iran''''s nuclear capabilities, the entire world will be enslaved to Iran''''s Islamofascist diktaat.

Pre-emptive action sooner rather than later against this Iranian threat is needed and NOW!
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Posted by damnedrelign at 06:02 PM : May 01, 2008

-When did Iran ever say they would Nuke Israel. I dare you find only one article where Iran is menacing Israel with WMD? (Nukes included) We rather heard the opposite. Unlimited times... and shamelessly by the RePUKEons.
Reply to this comment
by bm6005 May 2, 2008 2:09 AM EDT
WOW, lots of hate here tonight! I don''t know if its a full moon or if everyones meds were switched.
Reply to this comment
by k_c_waters May 1, 2008 11:20 PM EDT
It was a mistake to take out Sadam, who kept Iran in check now Iran is our problem?!

We (the U.S.) added the Afghans against the Soviets not we''re in Afghan fighting!

The United States foreign policy is ridiculous. No more war and war mongering (McCain/ Clinton) We need a change dammit!

Obama 08''
Reply to this comment
by gce65 May 1, 2008 10:18 PM EDT
CBS: Not covering this? The WaPost is.

Study Finds No Cancer-Marijuana Connection
By Marc Kaufman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 26, 2006; Page A03

The largest study of its kind has unexpectedly concluded that smoking marijuana, even regularly and heavily, does not lead to lung cancer.

The new findings "were against our expectations," said Donald Tashkin of the University of California at Los Angeles, a pulmonologist who has studied marijuana for 30 years.

"We hypothesized that there would be a positive association between marijuana use and lung cancer, and that the association would be more positive with heavier use," he said. "What we found instead was no association at all, and even a suggestion of some protective effect."

Federal health and drug enforcement officials have widely used Tashkin''s previous work on marijuana to make the case that the drug is dangerous. Tashkin said that while he still believes marijuana is potentially harmful, its cancer-causing effects appear to be of less concern than previously thought.

Earlier work established that marijuana does contain cancer-causing chemicals as potentially harmful as those in tobacco, he said. However, marijuana also contains the chemical THC, which he said may kill aging cells and keep them from becoming cancerous.

MORE ON WA POST WEBSITE
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by johnshaft4 May 1, 2008 9:18 PM EDT
Libagenda- Please resume taking your head meds again.
Reply to this comment
by kclaf May 1, 2008 9:14 PM EDT
When are people going to wake up and really question where all of this so called information is actually coming from. You actually believe you are hearing the truth from THIS administration? After the occupation of Iraq? Not to mention everything else they have done to this country. If you do believe them you have a very, very serious problem with denial, and that is being polite.
Reply to this comment
by rudy654-2009 May 1, 2008 8:14 PM EDT
You are a spoiled brat. You should be humbled that you live in the USA and that we''''ve had a President for the past 8 years who''''s combatted these maniac Muslim extremists so that you can continue to enjoy your freedoms.


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Posted by libagenda at 03:01 PM

Um..so your faith is in a man who has been shown time and again to be a liar. Is he your messiah, too, your god? Apparently.
Reply to this comment
by rudy654-2009 May 1, 2008 8:04 PM EDT
If I were any one of the presidential candidates I would plainly state to Iran that If I were elected Iran had until one week of my office to stop all of its actions. If Iran failed to stop it would experience the full fury of our power.


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Posted by Theroofsedge at 04:21 PM

Okay, make that same threat to Saudi Arabia. Afterall, we all know where the terrorists all came from, don''t we? We all know that the oil cartels are financing them, don''t we? Yet, you are ready to beat up and murder thousands of simple people in a country called Iran. Amazing how know one cares anymore about Al Qaeda.
Reply to this comment
by theroofsedge May 1, 2008 7:21 PM EDT
If I were any one of the presidential candidates I would plainly state to Iran that If I were elected Iran had until one week of my office to stop all of its actions. If Iran failed to stop it would experience the full fury of our power.
Reply to this comment
by rikman1 May 1, 2008 6:59 PM EDT
Interesting times.
We are at or very close to Peak Oil. The US knows this,so do many other governments.
They cant publicly announce it as it would cause economic meltdown.
A form of "demand destruction" is underway with the credit crises. Also,corn going into fuel is causing a food crises too. This effects poor countries much more than wealthy ones restricting their growth at a time of limited resources.
Iraq.
This is a geo-strategic success for the US. They basically control Iraq and its vast reserves of untapped oil reserves. Only US oil companies are going to be able to exploit it.
Iran.
Its always been the main prize.
With huge amounts of gas & oil the US wants to control that too. By attacking the country & supporting regime change during the resulting chaos they hope to curtail Irans growing influence & establish a pro US government. Also,Iran is now busy making deals to many people who the US would rather it not,eg China,India & Russia.
So,what to do. Better attack it now than leave the risk ofa Dem President not doing so and enabling Irans influence to grow. What about Israel! How can they let another kid on the block have the big toys! No,only Israel can have Nukes! So,I expect some form of co-ordinated attack late summer,just before the elections! Also they will have the added benefit of making John Mac a "safe" bet for "protecting" the US in a time of "terror!" distracting everyone from the economic nightmare that middle americans are now facing!
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by bestillandno May 1, 2008 4:37 PM EDT
celeste - Iran is the MAIN cause of US deaths. Al-Qaeda activity is now greatly diminished and suppressed by the Awakening Councils.

Most American troops are getting killed by IEDsa manufactured in Iran. Read the news and check icasualties.org. Dont make lies up.

Ahmadinejad biggest fear is to see a stable, democratic and prosperous Iraq.

Ahmadinejad is not trying to provoke the US. He is trying to destabilize Iraq and also get a nuke.

Jesus, these are in the news. The amount of ignorance here is astounding.

Posted by Mohammad19 at 02:53 PM : Apr 30, 2008



Well, if you are really Iranian, and you are right about this, then apparently Bush does know what he is doing if he wants to go after Iran. Imagine that.
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