US discussing strikes on Iran

By DOUGLAS DAVIS


LONDON – Pentagon officials are said to be discussing possible military action to neutralize Iran's nuclear weapons threat, according to a report in London's Observer. US administration sources are quoted as saying that air strikes – "either by the US or Israel" – to wipe out Iran's fledgling nuclear program would be difficult because of a lack of clear intelligence about where key components are located.

Instead, sources quoted by the paper said the Pentagon is considering strikes in support of regime change, including attacks on the leadership, as well as on political and security targets
.
The new "modeling" at the Pentagon, with its shift in emphasis from suspected nuclear sites to political target lists, is said to be causing deep anxiety among officials in Britain, France, and Germany, who last week appeared to have negotiated a deal with Teheran to cease work that could contribute to a nuclear weapons program. But Washington is said to be skeptical about the deal.


Jerusalem Post, 21/11/2004

__________________
"Never argue with an idiot, they'll just bring you
down to their level and beat you with experience." (c)TB

Diplomats say U.S. lining up allies for possible bid to oust ElBaradei as head of U.N. nuclear agency

By GEORGE JAHN The Associated Press

VIENNA, Austria The United States is lobbying allies in a bid to oust the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, perhaps as early as the end of the month, diplomats and officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Anticipating that present European diplomatic efforts on Iran will fail, the diplomats and officials also told AP that Washington plans to increase pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program when the International Atomic Energy Agency meets Feb. 28.

In Tehran, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami told foreign diplomats that no Iranian government would ever abandon the progress the country has made in developing peaceful nuclear technology.

Washington, which accuses Iran of making nuclear weapons and wants it brought before the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions, considers IAEA head Mohammed ElBaradei too soft on the Tehran leadership.

No U.S. comment was available on Washington's strategy for the upcoming IAEA board of governors meeting.

But several diplomats and government officials from IAEA member countries dismissed recent reports that the United States had given up attempts to unseat ElBaradei because of lack of support from other countries.

"They've been lobbying, and close friends have given them a good reception,' said one of the officials familiar with the issue, who, like the others, spoke on condition of anonymity.

Another said Undersecretary of State John Bolton and other senior State Department officials "were still lobbying the capitals, telling them it's the way to go.'

With Elbaradei's agency spearheading international attempts to squelch nuclear proliferation, the head of the IAEA is a key position for Bush administration officials. They want someone who shares their views of which country represents a nuclear threat and what to do about it.

ElBaradei has challenged those views first over prewar Iraq and then Iran, both labeled part of an "axis of evil,' along with North Korea, by President Bush.

He first disputed U.S. assertions that Saddam Hussein had an active nuclear weapons program claims that remain unproven. He then refused to endorse arguments by Washington that nuclear activities Iran claims are meant only to generate power are actually part of a clandestine weapons program.

A direct U.S. move to oust ElBaradei failed late last year the Americans were unable to find anyone to challenge him for a third term by the Dec. 31 deadline, shortly after calling on him to step down with his second term completed.

It remains unclear whether Washington could muster the 12 votes needed among the 35-nation IAEA board for a vote of non-confidence in ElBaradei.

Ahead of the Feb. 28 meeting, the majority is either in favor of a third term for the IAEA head or appears to be undecided. Reflecting sentiment among the latter, one diplomat said his country "had full confidence' in ElBaradei but still shared the U.S. view that no U.N. agency head should serve past two terms.

The contacts appeared to be restricted to the high level, with Vienna-based diplomats saying the U.S. mission in Vienna pointedly refuses to discuss the issue.

In a related issue, the United States will try to redirect international focus on Iran's nuclear activities back to the IAEA by pushing for creation of a special agency committee that would deal with "problem countries,' a diplomat said.

For the first time in more than two years, ElBaradei is not producing a written report on Iran for the upcoming board meeting.

While investigations continue into past and present suspicions about Iran's nuclear program, agency officials say that no major revelations meriting the need for a written report have surfaced this time around.

But American officials suggest the lack of a written report is the latest reflection of the IAEA's failure to be tough on Iran's nuclear transgressions, which, they say merit referral of Tehran's dossier to the U.N. Security Council.

The U.S. push to create a special committee, first proposed last year by Bush, appears driven by the feeling that talks between Iran and Germany, France and Britain will fail.

Those three countries are trying to persuade Iran to agree to either scrap its plans to enrich uranium or extend its present short-term suspension to a freeze lasting for at least several years.

While the United States publicly supports the talks, officials privately say they expect them to fail, leading to renewed enrichment activities which can produce the fissile core of nuclear missiles and a fresh need for the IAEA board to consider Security Council referral.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice suggested as much Wednesday, telling Fox News that if the Iranians "are unwilling to take the deal, really, that the Europeans are giving ... then the Security Council referral looms.'

The Europeans have promised Iran economic and technological aid in return for cooperation on the nuclear issue.

On Wednesday, the Iranian president warned that if the talks fail, his government will not be bound by its undertaking to suspend enrichment.

"If other parties (to the negotiations) are not committed to their promises, we will not be committed to our promises at all,' Khatami said.

__________________
"Never argue with an idiot, they'll just bring you
down to their level and beat you with experience." (c)TB