Russians see US Attack against Iraq Soon

[QueEx]

<font size="5"><center>Russian intelligence sees U.S.
military buildup on Iran border</font size></center>

Russian News and
Information Agency
March 27, 2007

MOSCOW, March 27 (RIA Novosti) - Russian military intelligence services are reporting a flurry of activity by U.S. Armed Forces near Iran's borders, a high-ranking security source said Tuesday.

"The latest military intelligence data point to heightened U.S. military preparations for both an air and ground operation against Iran," the official said, adding that the Pentagon has probably not yet made a final decision as to when an attack will be launched.

He said the Pentagon is looking for a way to deliver a strike against Iran "that would enable the Americans to bring the country to its knees at minimal cost."

He also said the U.S. Naval presence in the Persian Gulf has for the first time in the past four years reached the level that existed shortly before the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

Col.-Gen. Leonid Ivashov, vice president of the Academy of Geopolitical Sciences, said last week that the Pentagon is planning to deliver a massive air strike on Iran's military infrastructure in the near future.

A new U.S. carrier battle group has been dispatched to the Gulf.

The USS John C. Stennis, with a crew of 3,200 and around 80 fixed-wing aircraft, including F/A-18 Hornet and Superhornet fighter-bombers, eight support ships and four nuclear submarines are heading for the Gulf, where a similar group led by the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower has been deployed since December 2006.

The U.S. is also sending Patriot anti-missile systems to the region.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070327/62697703.html

 

[VegasGuy]

The Brits would be up in there first and the US would be right behind.

-VG

 

[QueEx]

<font size="4">
Intelligence sources in Moscow claim to have information
that a US strike against Iranian nuclear installations has
been scheduled for April 6 at 0040 hours. The Russian
sources say the US operation, code-named “Bite,” will
last no more than 12 hours and consist of missile and aerial
strikes devastating enough to set Tehran’s nuclear program
several years back.

</font size>

http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=3980

 

[QueEx]

`

Operation Bite: April 6 sneak attack by US Forces
against Iran planned, Russian Military sources war
http://www.atlanticfreepress.com/content/view/1251/32/

`

 

[QueEx]

<font size="4">Russia warns US against Iran attack </font size>

Web posted at: March 28, 2007 at 2:59:46
Source ::: AP

moscow • Russia’s Foreign Ministry yesterday criticised the United States for what it called over-reliance on force and warned Washington against military action against Iran.

But in a major review of foreign policy priorities, the ministry said Russia was ready to cooperate to end global crises if Washington treats it as an equal partner. Russia criticised what it called “the creeping American strategy of dragging the global community into a large-scale crisis around Iran,” saying that Iran helps maintain stability in Afghanistan and Central Asia.

At the same time, the ministry’s paper assailed Iran for its “unconstructive” stance, reflecting growing Kremlin irritation with its ally’s refusal to freeze uranium enrichment, as the UN demands. Russia and China, both permanent UN Security Council members with significant trade ties with Iran, have opposed US efforts to impose harsh sanctions against the country.

http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Di...th=March2007&file=World_News2007032825946.xml

 

[actinanass]

they better hope that Israel don't fuck around and attack Iran first. If that happen, WE WILL BE OUT OF IRAQ....

 

[modified]

I see Bush is making sure he leaves no stone unturned. I wonder what they plan on using for this "attack". Iran has been preparing for this confrontation by building a considerable underground infrastructure?

 

[QueEx]

UPDATE: 30 March 07

<font size="5"><center>U.S. ready to strike Iran in early April</font size></center>

Russian News and
Information Agency
March 30, 2007

MOSCOW, March 30 (RIA Novosti) - Russian intelligence has information that the U.S. Armed Forces have nearly completed preparations for a possible military operation against Iran, and will be ready to strike in early April, a security official said.

The source said the U.S. had already compiled a list of possible targets on Iranian territory and practiced the operation during recent exercises in the Persian Gulf.

"Russian intelligence has information that the U.S. Armed Forces stationed in the Persian Gulf have nearly completed preparations for a missile strike against Iranian territory," the source said.

American commanders will be ready to carry out the attack in early April, but it will be up to the country's political leadership to decide if and when to attack, the source said.

Official data says America's military presence in the region has reached the level of March 2003 when the U.S. invaded Iraq.

The U.S. has not excluded the military option in negotiations on Iran over its refusal to abandon its nuclear program. The UN Security Council passed a new resolution on Iran Saturday toughening economic sanctions against the country and accepting the possibility of a military solution to the crisis.

The source said the Pentagon could decide to conduct ground operations as well after assessing the damage done to the Iranian forces by its possible missile strikes and analyzing the political situation in the country following the attacks.

A senior Russian security official cited military intelligence earlier as saying U.S. Armed Forces had recently intensified training for air and ground operations against Iran.

"The Pentagon has drafted a highly effective plan that will allow the Americans to bring Iran to its knees at minimal cost," the official said.

Russian Col.-Gen. Leonid Ivashov, vice president of the Academy of Geopolitical Sciences, said last week the Pentagon was planning to deliver a massive air strike on Iran's military infrastructure in the near future.

"I have no doubt there will be an operation, or rather an aggressive action against Iran," Ivashov said, commenting on media reports about U.S. planned operation against Iran, codenamed Operation Bite.

A new U.S. carrier battle group has been dispatched to the Gulf. The USS John C. Stennis, with a crew of 3,200 and around 80 fixed-wing aircraft, including F/A-18 Hornet and Superhornet fighter-bombers, eight support ships and four nuclear submarines are heading for the Gulf, where a similar group led by the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower has been deployed since December 2006. The U.S. is also sending Patriot anti-missile systems to the region.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, however, was rather optimistic about the situation and said he ruled out a military resolution of the Iranian nuclear problem.

"We are constantly working on how to resolve the situation around the Iranian nuclear program and other conflicts peacefully," Lavrov said. "This policy is unchanged and we will pursue it in the future."

Russia and the U.S. are two of the six negotiators on Iran's nuclear program, which Tehran says is aimed at generating energy.

http://en.rian.ru/world/20070330/62861432.html

 

[QueEx]

DEBKAfile Exclusive

<font size="5"><center>US financial sources in Bahrain report
American investors in Bahrain advised
to pack up business operations and leave </font size>
<font size="4">a hint at an approaching war with Iran</font size></center>

USS Nimitz nuclear carrier


March 30, 2007, 3:56 PM (GMT+02:00)

The advice came from officers with US Central Command 5th Fleet HQ at Manama, who spoke of security tension, a hint at an approaching war with Iran.

Arab sources report the positioning of a Patriot anti-missile battery in Bahrain this week; they say occupancy at emirate hotels has soared past 90% due mostly to the influx of US military personnel. They also report Western media crews normally employed in military coverage are arriving in packs.

Thursday, March 29, Gen. Khaled al-‘Absi, Bahrain’s chief of air defense operations disclosed that new alarm networks had been installed and air defense systems upgraded to handle chemical, biological and radioactive attacks.

The USS Nimitz and its support ships will be departing San Diego Monday, April 2, to join the John C. Stennis Strike Group in the Persian Gulf. The nuclear carrier is due to relieve the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower , but military sources in the Gulf believe all three US carriers will stay put if tensions continue to climb or if fighting breaks out involving American, British and Iranian forces.

The mighty American armada is further supported by the USS Bataan and USS Boxer strike groups.

War tensions have been triggered most recently by the crisis over the seized British sailors and large-scale US sea, air and amphibious exercises in the Gulf.

(1.) DEBKAfile’s Tehran sources report that in the contest within the Iranian leadership over how to handle the affair of the captured British seamen, the wildest radical element has gained the upper hand, reducing the prospects of their imminent release. Heading the tough Tehran faction are hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Gen. Rahim Safavi, commander of the Revolutionary Guards whose naval wing performed the seizure.

They gained strength from the British premier Tony Blair’s initial passive, semi-conciliatory response. Tehran quickly grasped it had acquired not just a propaganda tool but a military asset, which the UK cannot match as long as the Americans desist from throwing their military might into the fray. Washington has refused to risk of a full-scale war confrontation with the Revolutionary Guards for the sake of the British sailors.

Iranian strategists also registered that, although the Blair government has begun moving mountains to gain the freedom of the marine crew held in Tehran, London appeared fairly laid back about the kidnap of BBC correspondent Alan Johnston in broad daylight by gunmen in Palestinian Gaza, although three weeks had gone by.

Revolutionary Guards serving with Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza no doubt filed a full report on the Johnston case to Tehran, which drew its own conclusions.

(2.) Taking part in the big demonstration of American naval, air and marine force launched March 27 are the two nuclear carrier strike forces Stennis and Eisenhower , thousands of marines and 100 warplanes. Maneuvers on this scale in the tight, overcrowded waters of the Persian Gulf carry risks of a collision between American and Iranian craft.

DEBKAfile’s military sources report that the Nimitz group is composed of the Princeton guided-missile cruiser, four guided missile destroyers – the Higgins , Chafee , John Paul Jones and Pinckney . The strike force is armed with two helicopter squadrons and a special unit for dismantling sea mines and other explosive devices.

Earlier, DEBKAfile quoted intelligence sources in Moscow as predicting that a US strike against Iranian nuclear installations codenamed Operation Bite has been scheduled for April 6 at 0040 hours. Missiles and air raids will conduct strikes designed to be devastating enough to set Tehran’s nuclear program several years back.

http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=3990

 

[Makeherhappy]

That April 6th date is a interesting date. Especially being the fact my company network is shutting down on on April 3rd, for a "disaster recovery test."

Time will tell.

 

[African Herbsman]

U.S. could strike Iran but not win: Russian general

Tue Apr 3, 6:17 AM ET

The United States cannot inflict a military defeat on Iran and any attack would be a huge political mistake, Russia's top general said on Tuesday.

"It is possible to damage Iran's military and industrial potential, but it is impossible to win," Russian news agencies quoted General Yuri Baluyevsky, head of the Russian general staff, as saying.

"The United States has a contingent in the region capable of launching a strike on Iranian territory.

"However, such possible strikes would be a huge political mistake. Shockwaves from this attack could be felt around the world."

Washington and its Western allies accuse Iran of wanting to build nuclear bombs, a charge Tehran denies. Tensions have been further aggravated by Iran's capture of 15 British sailors and marines in the northern Gulf on March 23.

Russia sells weapons to the Iranian military and is helping Tehran build a nuclear power station on the Gulf although work there is on hold over a payment dispute.

Russian media late last month quoted unnamed sources in Russian military intelligence as saying the United States could launch a strike on Iran as early as April 6.

RIA news agency quoted a Russian security source as saying Moscow has military intelligence reports that the U.S. has already approved a list of Iranian targets for bomb and missile strikes. The source said a land operation could follow.

U.S. President George W. Bush has said he will pursue diplomatic means to persuade Iran to drop its uranium enrichment plan but he has refused to rule out the use of force.

Baluyevsky said military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan showed the United States would face a fiasco if it took on Iran as well.

"The Americans must think twice (about attacking Iran)," he said. "They have already got stuck in Afghanistan and Iraq."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070403...c&printer=1;_ylt=AiHimmAB6XLuK2CUEpodv6kb.3QA

 

[LennyNero1972]

If the US attacks Iran, I see more terrorist attacks on American soil in the near future. And yes they will be devastating!!!

 

[sitai]

someone tell bush not to fuck it up this time.... with all his "miscalculations"

 

[LennyNero1972]

someone tell bush not to fuck it up this time.... with all his "miscalculations"

Puh-lease bruh, where ya been he already dun fucked up!!!!

 

[CarryOn]

The US could easily destroy Irans infrastructure and military. But attempting to occupy the country would be stupid. Time has shown over and over again you cant win a war on two fronts.

 

[Truechoice2004]

At this point nothing shocks me with this current administration, and believe me the US had planned scenarios for attacking Iran years ago - when Bush called them the 'axis of evil' - so thats nothing new. But the Iraq war didnt go well for the administration.

Nonetheless, I dont see us attacking Iran...Bush cant be that stupid...or can
he?

 

[actinanass]

The US could easily destroy Irans infrastructure and military. But attempting to occupy the country would be stupid. Time has shown over and over again you cant win a war on two fronts.

See the beauty about Iran is the fact that a lot of Iranians WANT to work with the US. Remember, Iran was one of OUR biggest allies during the 70's. A lot of Iranians left Iran during the Islamic Revolution. If we knock the current regime, it will not be like IRAQ by no means. The only thing I'm worried about is if this fool end up getting nukes. Thats the only threat we truly have...

 

[Sango]

History tends to repeat itself...

ABC: U.S. Engaged in Secret War With Iran
ABC News is reporting the U.S. is engaged in a secret war with Iran. Since 2005, U.S. officials have been advising a Pakistani tribal militant group with ties to the Taliban on how to carry out deadly guerilla raids inside Iran. The Pakistani group – called Jundullah -- has taken responsibility for the deaths and kidnappings of more than a dozen Iranian soldiers and officials. Most recently, Jundullah took credit for a bus bombing that killed at least 11 members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in February. Officials say the U.S. relationship with Jundullah is arranged so that the U.S. provides no funding to the group, which would require an official presidential order or "finding" as well as congressional oversight. Some former CIA officers say the arrangement is reminiscent of how the U.S. government used proxy armies to destabilize the government of Nicaragua in the 1980s.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/04/04/1343204

REUTERS

5:08 p.m. April 3, 2007

WASHINGTON – The U.S. has been secretly advising and encouraging a Pakistani militant group that has carried out a series of deadly guerrilla raids inside Iran, ABC News reported Tuesday, citing U.S. and Pakistani intelligence sources.
The raids have resulted in the deaths or capture of Iranian soldiers and officials, ABC reported.

The group, members of the Baluchi tribe, operates from Pakistan's gas-rich province of Baluchistan, just across the border from Iran, the report said.

The only relationship with the group that U.S. intelligence acknowledges is cooperation in tracking al Qaeda figures in that part of Pakistan, ABC reported.

The group, called Jundullah, has produced videos showing Iranian soldiers and border guards it says it has captured, ABC said.

ABC cited U.S. government sources it did not identify as saying the United States does not provide direct funding for the group but has maintained close ties to its leader, Abd el Malik Regi, since 2005.

A CIA official said the account was not accurate.

Regi claims to have personally executed some of the Iranian captives, the ABC News report said.

“He is essentially commanding a force of several hundred guerrilla fighters that stage attacks across the border into Iran on Iranian military officers, Iranian intelligence officers, kidnapping them, executing them on camera,” said Alexis Debat, a senior fellow on counterterrorism at the Nixon Center and an ABC News consultant.

“He used to fight with the Taliban. He's part drug smuggler, part Taliban, part Sunni activist,” Debat told ABC.

The group took credit for an attack in February that killed at least 11 members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard riding on a bus in the Iranian city of Zehedan, ABC said.

According to the report, Iranian state television last month broadcast what it said were confessions by those responsible for the bus attack.

They reportedly admitted to being members of Jundullah and said they had been trained for the mission at a secret location in Pakistan, ABC said.

ABC cited Pakistani government sources as saying the secret campaign against Iran was on the agenda when Vice President Dick Cheney met with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in February.

A spokesman for Cheney's office did not immediately respond to a phone call seeking comment.


Pakistani militants staging raids inside Iran-ABC

 

[actinanass]

ahh here we go again... US IS MESSING WITH LIL BITTY IRAN. Oh lemme guess, YOU WANT TO GO FIGHT FOR IRAN NOW. *sigh*

 

[QueEx]

<font size="3">
Has anyone considered the Russians motivation here?</font size>

- Could the Russians be telling the Iranians, in a round about way, to COOL IT? The Russians have been a part of the group "supposedly" trying to convince Iran not to make its own nuclear fuel for its up-coming reaction (which can be turned into weaponized material). Perhaps, the Russians, who play both sides of the fence to its best financial interest, are not all that interested in seeing a Nuclear armed Iran, either ???

- Iran shares a border with parts of the former Soviet Union; some of those former parts have large Muslim populations; while the Russians are anxious to do business with (sell arms and export Russian technology) any country that has beef with the U.S. (thats another way the Ruskies can try to balance U.S. power and bolster Ruskie influence), aren't they also mindful of the religious nuts to their south that don't exactly share Russian ideals ??? In other words, does anyone think the Russians are anxious to create a monster, so close to them ???

- Could the Russian "Warning" of imminent U.S. action against Iran be nothing more than chumming-up to the Iranians ... "see, I'm your friend telling you to watch your back" -- enamoring the Iranians so that they may sell more weapons and nuclear power plants ???

- Aren't the Russians well aware that its "Warning" will cause the price of oil to rise ??? And, besides arms, what is the Russians greatest export? - you got it, OIL AND GAS.​

<font size="5">???

</font size>
Has anyone noticed that the more the Iranians test missiles, sabre-rattle with Israel, provoke Hezbollah to turn up its heat, or capture foreign nationals (whether in or outside of Iranian territory/waters) -- the price leaps on its only significant export - OIL ???

Does anyone really believe the "Iran Matter" is just the U.S. threatening Iran - without cause or provocation ??? Could be. Could not be.

QueEx

 

[actinanass]

<font size="3">
Has anyone considered the Russians motivation here?</font size>

- Could the Russians be telling the Iranians, in a round about way, to COOL IT? The Russians have been a part of the group "supposedly" trying to convince Iran not to make its own nuclear fuel for its up-coming reaction (which can be turned into weaponized material). Perhaps, the Russians, who play both sides of the fence to its best financial interest, are not all that interested in seeing a Nuclear armed Iran, either ???

- Iran shares a border with parts of the former Soviet Union; some of those former parts have large Muslim populations; while the Russians are anxious to do business with (sell arms and export Russian technology) any country that has beef with the U.S. (thats another way the Ruskies can try to balance U.S. power and bolster Ruskie influence), aren't they also mindful of the religious nuts to their south that don't exactly share Russian ideals ??? In other words, does anyone think the Russians are anxious to create a monster, so close to them ???

- Could the Russian "Warning" of imminent U.S. action against Iran be nothing more than chumming-up to the Iranians ... "see, I'm your friend telling you to watch your back" -- enamoring the Iranians so that they may sell more weapons and nuclear power plants ???

- Aren't the Russians well aware that its "Warning" will cause the price of oil to rise ??? And, besides arms, what is the Russians greatest export? - you got it, OIL AND GAS.​

<font size="5">???

</font size>
Has anyone noticed that the more the Iranians test missiles, sabre-rattle with Israel, provoke Hezbollah to turn up its heat, or capture foreign nationals (whether in or outside of Iranian territory/waters) -- the price leaps on its only significant export - OIL ???

Does anyone really believe the "Iran Matter" is just the U.S. threatening Iran - without cause or provocation ??? Could be. Could not be.

QueEx

Sounds like Putin to me.

 

[QueEx]

<font size="5"><center>Russian general says U.S. continues preparations
for military action against Iran</font size></center>


MOSCOW. April 8 (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.

<u>Two Phased Attack</u>

"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.

<u>Primary Strike</u>

Primary targets will include command centers, air defense installations, the navy, airfields, ports and docking facilities, the general said.

<u>Secondary Strike</u>

"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.

"Combat nuclear weapons may be used for bombing. This will result in radioactive contamination of the Iranian territory, which could possibly spread to neighboring countries," he said.

"If Iran strikes back at Israel with missiles, Tel-Aviv is likely to use nuclear weapons on Iran," Ivashov said, adding that such a "development of the situation would undermine stability not only in the Middle East, but also in the entire world."


http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/0/28.html?menu=1&id_issue=11708925