British officials plan for US-led Iran attack

In a move mirroring the days just before the United States invaded Iraq, British officials this week are forming contingency plans for a possible US-led strike against Iran. The U.K. Telegraph, an online British newspaper, is reporting that "it is believed that an American-led attack, designed to destroy Iran's ability to develop a nuclear bomb, is 'inevitable' if Teheran's leaders fail to comply with United Nations demands to freeze their uranium enrichment programme." Click here for the Telegraph's coverage on this issue.

And it is unlikely that Iran will obey those orders. Just today, Iran's former president, Hashemi Rafsanjani, confirmed that Iran had for the first time enriched Uranium. This is the first step in a long process required to actually build a nuclear bomb, and Iranian officials are denying claims by the U.S. and United Nations that they are in fact seeking a weapon.

Iran says it is only seeking nuclear energy.

If I had to vote, I would guess that we are going into Iran at some point in the near future, unless the government there abandons its nuclear program. It will most likely be a major air strike, rather than sending in ground troops for a complete takeover. There is even talk of using tactical nuclear weapons there, although these reports are unconfirmed.

Bush will never allow Iran to continue developing their nuclear program, so be prepared for some type of attack to happen in the next few months. Seymour Hersh's New Yorker article, which you can get to from my blog if you read an article below, reports that Bush sees a successful attack on Iran as his last great triumph before he leaves office in 2008.

Hersh's article states, in part, that "A government consultant with close ties to the civilian leadership in the Pentagon said that Bush was 'absolutely convinced that Iran is going to get the bomb' if it is not stopped. He said that the President believes that he must do 'what no Democrat or Republican, if elected in the future, would have the courage to do,' and 'that saving Iran is going to be his legacy.'”

Implications? Gas prices higher than we have ever seen, perhaps $5 per gallon, and new terror threats from radical groups such as Hezbollah. It could get really ugly.