U.S. military: Engagement on Iran must be realistic
U.S. military: Engagement on Iran must be realistic – Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News.
U.S. Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Mullen prefers dialogue with Iran, believing that a military strike would only delay, not halt, its nuclear plans.
By Reuters
The United States needs to be realistic about its efforts to engage Iran, whose leaders are lying about Tehran’s nuclear program and are on a path to building nuclear weapons, the top U.S. military officer said.
Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in comments released on Friday that the U.S. military has been thinking about military options on Iran “for a significant period of time” but added that diplomacy remained the focus of U.S. efforts.
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U.S. Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen. |
| Photo by: AP |
“I still think it’s important we focus on the dialogue, we focus on the engagement, but also do it in a realistic way that looks at whether Iran is actually going to tell the truth, actually engage and actually do anything,” Mullen said in an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria due to air on Sunday.
Iran has agreed to meet with a representative of the six big powers over its uranium enrichment drive, but diplomats and analysts see little chance of a breakthrough in the long-running dispute.
Still, U.S. officials, including Mullen, have warned that a military strike will only delay, not halt, Iran’s nuclear program and say convincing Tehran to abandon its nuclear program is the only viable long-term solution.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates went further last week, warning a strike would also unite the divided country and saying sanctions were biting harder than expected.
The West believes that Iran aims to use its uranium enrichment program to build atomic weapons, which Iran denies. Both Israel and the United States have said all options remain on the table to deal with its nuclear ambitions, a position Mullen reaffirmed to CNN.
Asked whether he believed Tehran’s vows that its nuclear program was for peaceful purposes, Mullen said: “I don’t believe it for a second.”
“In fact, the information and intelligence that I’ve seen speak very specifically to the contrary,” he said.
“Iran is still very much on a path to be able to develop nuclear weapons, including weaponizing them, putting them on a missile and being able to use them.”
WarSclerotic 
November 27, 2010 at 11:45 PM
I BELIEVE THAT THE IRANIANS ARE GOING TO HERMITIZE THEIR NUCLEAR CAPACITY AS THE NORTH KOREANS HAVE DONE AND DO NOTHING MMORE THAN RUN THEIR MOUTHS TO PUNISH THEIR PEOPLLE AND FORCE ECONOMIC AND TOTAL DEPENDENCE ON OTHER MUSLIM NATIONS TO KEEP THEIR NUCLEAR QUEST ALIVE. THEY STAND TO MAKE A MODERATE AMOUNT OF MONEY RPOBABLY NOT ENOUGH TOSUSTAIN THEIR ECONOMY IF THEY PROLIFERATE THEIR WEAPONS GRADE MATERIALS AND THEIR NUCLEAR FUEL REFINING CAPACITIES TO OTHER NATIONS IN THE AXIS OF EVIL TOO. THE SYRIANS HAVE NOT BEEN ACCOUNTABLE TO ANYONE YET ABOUT THEIR POSSIBLE NUCLEAR AMBITIONS EITHER. SO IT COULD ALREADY BE SPREADING WHILE WE ARE SO CONSCERNED ABOUT IRAN. THAT IS MY MAIN WOORRY THAT WE HAVE FOCUSSED TOO MUUCH ON THEM AND NOT NATIONS LIKE VENEZUELA AND MYANMAR. THE NUCLEARS QUEST IS STILL BEING HAMMERED OUT IN SECRET BY THE AL-QAEDA ALLIANCES AS WE WONDER ABOUTT THE IRANIAN THREAT.