neo cons to attack Iran from bases in Bulgaria and Romania

[donsu]

http://www.sundayherald.com/international/shinternational/display.var.1152839.0.america_poised_to_strike_at_irans_nuclear_sites_from_bases_in_bulgaria_and_romania.php


America ‘poised to strike at Iran’s nuclear sites’ from bases in Bulgaria and Romania


Report suggest that ‘US defensive ring’ may be new front in war on terror. By Gabriel Ronay
PRESIDENT BUSH is preparing to attackIran'snuclearfacilities before the end of April and the US Air Force's new bases in Bulgaria and Romania would be used as back-up in the onslaught, according to an official report from Sofia.

"American forces could be using their two USAF bases in Bulgaria and one at Romania's Black Sea coast to launch an attack on Iran in April," the Bulgarian news agency Novinite said.

TheAmericanbuild-upalongthe BlackSea,coupledwiththerecent positioningoftwoUSaircraftcarrier battle groups off the Straits of Hormuz, appears to indicate president Bush has run out of patience with Tehran's nuclear misrepresentation and non-compliance with the UN Security Council's resolution. President Ahmeninejad of Iran has further ratcheted up tension in the region by putting on show his newly purchased state of the art Russian TOR-Ml anti-missile defence system.

continued...

Whether the Bulgarian news report is a tactical feint or a strategic event is hard to gauge at this stage. But, in conjunctionwiththebeefingupofAmerica'sItalian bases and the acquisition of anti-missiledefencebasesintheCzech RepublicandPoland,theBalkan developments seem toindicateanewphase in Bush's global war on terror.

Sofia'snewsofadvancedwar preparationsalongtheBlackSeais backed up by some chilling details. One isthesettingupofnewrefuellingplaces for US Stealth bombers, which would spearhead an attack on Iran. "The USAF's positioning of vital refuelling facilities for its B-2 bombers in unusual places, includingBulgaria,fallswithinthe perspective of such an attack." NovinitenamedcolonelSam Gardiner, "a US secret service officer stationed in Bulgaria", as the source of this revelation.

-snip-

article ends with:

Bush's Iran attack plan has brought into sharp focus the possible costs to Central and Eastern Europe of being "pillars of Pax Americana".
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sharp focus

[bdamomma]

1. this needs to be stopped now, bush and cheney must be stopped.

[malaise]

4. Putin will shut off their gas supplies

Into the bunkers DUers.

[Leopolds Ghost]

2. If they did this, it would mean they haven't cleared a flight path yet.

Greece, Georgia, Armenia, Turkey, Azerbaijan would have to allow overflights. Turkey seems especially dubious, which makes this
sound like either pure BS, a strategic feint, or they haven't gotten to the feasibility stage yet.

[leveymg]

3. "named Sam Gardiner, 'a US secret service officer stationed in Bulgaria', as the source"

Sam Gardiner is a retired Air Force Colonel who was on the talk show circuit claiming before the November election that a military strike against Iran was "imminent".

Here he pops up again in Bulgaria, where he's idenified as a secret agent. Hmmm.

Col. Sam Gardiner on CNN, 9/18/06
http://thinkprogress.org/col-sam-gardiner-on-cnn-91806/

BLITZER: How likely is the U.S. strike against Iran? And would it lead to all-out war? Joining us now is retired U.S. Air Force colonel Sam Gardiner. He has taught strategy and military operations at the National War College, the Air War College, and the Naval War College. Colonel thanks very much for coming in. He just prepared a paper for the Century Foundation entitled “Considering the U.S. Military Option For Iran.” You speak to a lot of people plugged in. What is your bottom line? How close in your opinion is the Bush Administration to giving that go ahead.

GARDINER: It’s been given. In fact, we’ve probably been executing military operations inside Iran for at least 18 months. The evidence is overwhelming

BLITZER: Wait. Wait. Let me press you.

GARDINER: Sure.

BLITZER: When you say it’s been given. The president says he wants diplomacy to work to convince the Iranian government to stop enriching uranium, not go forward. “I would tell the Iranian people that we have no desire for conflict.” He told David Ignatius of the Washington Post the other day. So what does that mean, the order has been given?

GARDINER: We are conducting military operations inside Iran right now. The evidence is overwhelming. From both the Iranians, Americans, and from congressional sources.

BLITZER: What is “military operation?” Define that.

GARDINER: Sure. They probably have had two objectives going back 18 months. The first was to gather intelligence. Where is the Iranian nuclear program? The second has been to prepare dissident groups for phase two which will be the strike, which will come as the next phase, I think.

BLITZER: Preparing intelligence, that’s understandable using all sorts of means. They want to know what the Iranians are up to in terms of their nuclear program. But are you suggesting that U.S. military forces, special operations forces, or others are on the ground right now in Iran.

GARDINER: Yes, sir. Certainly. Absolutely clear the evidence is overwhelming from lots of sources, and, again, most of them you can read in the public. Seymore Hersch has done good work on it. There are lots of other people who have done that. I have talked to Iranians. I asked an Iranian ambassador to the IAEA, what’s this I hear about Americans being there? He said to me, well, we’ve captured some people who worked with them. We’ve confirmed that they’re there.

SNIP

BLITZER: Look, I was once a Pentagon correspondent many years ago, and in those days and in these days, as Jamie McIntire just reported, and as you well know from your time in active duty in the Pentagon, in the U.S. military, these guys are planning contingency operations for almost everything. If Canada goes to war against the United States, they have a contingency plan.

GARDINER: Okay, two differences. Number one, we have learned from TIME Magazine today that some U.S. naval forces had been alerted for deployment. That is a major step. That’s first. Second thing is the sources suggest the plan that’s not in the Pentagon. The plan has gone to the White House. That’s not normal planning. When the plan goes to the White House, that means we’ve gone to a different state.

BLITZER: You think it’s possible there is a little psychological warfare being played on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to rattle him. To spread the word. To put out this kind of information. To get him nervous, perhaps a little bit more agreeable to the diplomatic option.

GARDINER: It’s possible . . . SNIP