Former Head Of CIA Says U.S. Military May Be Forced Into Action Against Iran
SMH… The troops aren’t even home from Iraq yet, but one expert says military action against Iran may be necessary sooner than we think. Details on the flipside
A former CIA director says military action against Iran now seems more likely because no matter what the U.S. does diplomatically, Tehran keeps pushing ahead with its suspected nuclear program.
Michael Hayden, a CIA chief under President George W. Bush, says that during his tenure a strike was “way down the list” of options. But he tells CNN’s “State of the Union” that such action now “seems inexorable.”
He predicts Iran will build its program to the point where it’s just below having an actual weapon. Hayden says that would be as destabilizing to the region as the real thing.
U.S. officials have said military action remains an option if sanctions fail to deter Iran.
Iran says its nuclear work is for peaceful purposes such as power generation.
This has been an ongoing issue! In December, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad frustrated most of the Western world by ignoring a year end deadline set by the Obama administration to accept a UN-drafted deal to swap enriched uranium for nuclear fuel.
This week, European Union governments imposed their toughest sanctions yet on Iran, including a ban on new investment or equipment sales to Iran’s oil and natural-gas industries, restrictions on export-credit guarantees and insurance, and closer monitoring of banks doing business with Iran.
Earlier this month Obama signed legislation that punishes foreign suppliers of Iran’s gasoline and blocks access to the American financial system for banks that do business with the country. It seems like every non-violent option has been exercised, but Iran has shrugged off three previous sets of UN sanctions.
We’re not sure who we should be more worried about right now — Ahmadinejad or North Korea’s Kim Jong-Il.
