"The analysis, called TIRANNT, for "Theater Iran Near Term," was coupled with a mock scenario for a Marine Corps invasion and a simulation of the Iranian missile force. U.S. and British planners
conducted a Caspian Sea war game around the same time. And Bush directed
the U.S. Strategic Command to draw up a global strike war plan for an
attack against Iranian weapons of mass destruction. All of this will
ultimately feed into a new war plan for "major combat operations"
against Iran that military sources confirm now [April 2006] exists in
draft form.

... Under TIRANNT, Army and U.S. Central Command planners have been examining both near-term and out-year scenarios for war with Iran, including all aspects of a major combat operation, from
mobilization and deployment of forces through postwar stability
operations after regime change." (William Arkin, Washington Post, 16 April 2006)

"The plan includes a large-scale air assault on Iran employing both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons. Within Iran there are more than 450 major strategic
targets, including numerous suspected nuclear-weapons-program
development sites. Many of the targets are hardened or are deep
underground and could not be taken out by conventional weapons, hence
the nuclear option. As in the case of Iraq, the response is not
conditional on Iran actually being involved in the act of terrorism
directed against the United States. Several senior Air Force officers
involved in the planning are reportedly appalled at the implications of
what they are doing—that Iran is being set up for an unprovoked nuclear
attack—but no one is prepared to damage his career by posing any
objections." (Philip Giraldi, Deep Background,The American Conservative August 2005)

"The broad national security interests and objectives expressed in the President's National Security Strategy (NSS) and the Chairman's National Military Strategy (NMS) form the foundation of the
United States Central Command's theater strategy. The NSS directs
implementation of a strategy of dual containment of the rogue states of
Iraq and Iran as long as those states pose a threat to U.S. interests,
to other states in the region, and to their own citizens. Dual
containment is designed to maintain the balance of power in the region
without depending on either Iraq or Iran. USCENTCOM's theater strategy
is interest-based and threat-focused. The purpose of U.S. engagement, as
espoused in the NSS, is to protect the United States' vital interest in
the region - uninterrupted, secure U.S./Allied access to Gulf oil."
(USCENTCOM, http://www.milnet.com/milnet/pentagon/centcom/chap1/stratgic.htm#US..., link no longer active, archived at http://tinyurl.com/37gafu9)

"As I went back through the Pentagon in November 2001, one of the senior military staff officers had time for a chat. Yes, we were still on track for going against Iraq, he said. But there
was more. This was being discussed as part of a five-year campaign plan,
he said, and there were a total of seven countries, beginning with
Iraq, then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia and Sudan. (See Secret 2001 Pentagon Plan to Attack Lebanon, Global Research, July 23, 2006)

"One of the concerns people have is that Israel might do it without being asked... Given the fact that Iran has a stated policy that their objective is the destruction of Israel, the Israelis
might well decide to act first, and let the rest of the world worry
about cleaning up the diplomatic mess afterwards," (Dick Cheney, quoted
from an MSNBC Interview, January 2005)

"Iran I think is more ambiguous. And there the issue is certainly not tyranny; it's nuclear weapons. And the vice president today in a kind of a strange parallel statement to this declaration of
freedom hinted that the Israelis may do it and in fact used language
which sounds like a justification or even an encouragement for the
Israelis to do it."

"The measure, introduced by Texas Republican Louie Gohmert and 46 of his colleagues, endorses Israel’s use of “all means necessary” against Iran “including the use of military
force.” ... “We’ve got to get this done. We need to show our support for
Israel. We need to quit playing games with this critical ally in such a
difficult area.”’ (See Webster Tarpley, Fidel Castro Warns of Imminent Nuclear War; Admiral Mullen Threaten..., Global Research, August 10, 2010)

"Israeli military commanders believe conventional strikes may no longer be enough to annihilate increasingly well-defended enrichment facilities. Several have been built beneath at least 70ft of
concrete and rock. However, the nuclear-tipped bunker-busters would be
used only if a conventional attack was ruled out and if the United
States declined to intervene, senior sources said."(Revealed: Israel plans nuclear strike on Iran - Times Online, January 7, 2007)

"Administration officials argue that low-yield nuclear weapons are needed as a credible deterrent against rogue states. [Iran, Syria, North Korea] Their logic is that existing nuclear weapons
are too destructive to be used except in a full-scale nuclear war.
Potential enemies realize this, thus they do not consider the threat of
nuclear retaliation to be credible. However, low-yield nuclear weapons
are less destructive, thus might conceivably be used. That would make
them more effective as a deterrent." (Opponents Surprised By Elimination
of Nuke Research Funds Defense News November 29, 2004)

Conventional bunker buster Guided Bomb Unit GBU-27


B61 bunker buster bomb

Radiactive Fallout

The issue of radioactive fallout and contamination, while casually dismissed by US-NATO military analysts, would be devastating,
potentially affecting a large area of the broader Middle East
(including Israel) and Central Asian region.

"The Department has an Urgent Operational Need (UON) for the capability to strike hard and deeply buried targets in high threat environments. The MOP [Mother of All Bombs] is the weapon of choice to meet the requirements of the UON [Urgent Operational Need]." It further states
that the request is endorsed by Pacific Command (which has
responsibility over North Korea) and Central Command (which has
responsibility over Iran)." (ABC News, op cit, emphasis added). To consult the reprogramming request (pdf) click here

The Pentagon is planning on a process of extensive destruction of Iran's
infrastructure and mass civilian casualties through the combined use of
tactical nukes and monster conventional mushroom cloud bombs, including
the MOAB and the larger GBU-57A/B or Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP),
which surpasses the MOAB in terms of explosive capacity.

The MOP is described as "a powerful new bomb aimed squarely at the
underground nuclear facilities of Iran and North Korea. The gargantuan
bomb—longer than 11 persons standing shoulder-to-shoulder [see image
below] or more than 20 feet base to nose" (See Edwin Black, "Super Bunker-Buster Bombs Fast-Tracked for Possible Use Against Ira... Cutting Edge, September 21 2009)



"Mother of All Bombs" (MOAB)

GBU-57A/B Mass Ordnance Penetrator (MOP)

MOAB: screen shots of test: explosion and mushroom cloud

State of the Art Weaponry: "War Made Possible Through New Technologies"

"Fight and decisively win multiple, simultaneous major theater wars".

"Thus, it can be foreseen that the process of transformation will in fact be a two-stage process: first of transition, then of more thoroughgoing transformation. The breakpoint will come when a preponderance of new weapons systems begins to enter service, perhaps when, for example, unmanned aerial vehicles begin to be as numerous as manned aircraft. In this regard, the Pentagon should be very
wary of making large investments in new programs – tanks, planes,
aircraft carriers, for example – that would commit U.S. forces to
current paradigms of warfare for many decades to come. (Ibid, emphasis added)

"Weather modification will become a part of domestic and international security and could be done unilaterally... It could have offensive and defensive applications and
even be used for deterrence purposes. The ability to generate
precipitation, fog, and storms on earth or to modify space weather,
improve communications through ionospheric modification (the use of
ionospheric mirrors), and the production of artificial weather all are a
part of an integrated set of technologies which can provide substantial
increase in US, or degraded capability in an adversary, to achieve
global awareness, reach, and power." (Air Force 2025 Final Report, See also US Air Force: Weather as a Force Multiplier: Owning the Weather in 2025, AF2025 v3c15-1 | Weather as a Force Multiplier: Owning... | (Ch 1) at www.fas.org).

Range of Iran's Shahab Missiles. Copyright Washington Post

In November 2006, Iran tests of surface missiles 2 were marked by precise planning in a carefully staged operation. According to a senior American
missile expert (quoted by Debka), "the Iranians
demonstrated up-to-date missile-launching technology which the West had
not known them to possess." (See Michel Chossudovsky, Iran's "Power of Deterrence"
Global Research, November 5, 2006) Israel acknowledged that "the
Shehab-3, whose 2,000-km range brings Israel, the Middle East and Europe
within reach" (Debka, November 5, 2006)

Iranian ground forces are of the order of 700,000 of which 130,000 are professional soldiers, 220,000 are conscripts and 350,000 are reservists. (See Islamic Republic of Iran Army - Wikipedia).
There are 18,000 personnel in Iran's Navy and 52,000 in the air force.
According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, "the
Revolutionary Guards has an estimated 125,000 personnel in five
branches: Its own Navy, Air Force, and Ground Forces; and the Quds Force
(Special Forces)." According to the CISS, Iran's Basij paramilitary
volunteer force controlled by the Revolutionary Guards "has an estimated
90,000 active-duty full-time uniformed members, 300,000 reservists, and
a total of 11 million men that can be mobilized if need be" (Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran - Wikipedia), In
other words, Iran can mobilize up to half a million regular troops and
several million militia. Its Quds special forces are already operating
inside Iraq.

US Military and Allied Facilties Surrounding Iran

For several years now Iran has been conducting its own war drills and exercises. While its Air force has weaknesses, its intermediate and
long-range missiles are fully operational. Iran's military is in a state
of readiness. Iranian troop concentrations are currently within a few
kilometers of the Iraqi and Afghan borders, and within proximity of
Kuwait. The Iranian Navy is deployed in the Persian Gulf within
proximity of US and allied military facilities in the United Arab
Emirates.

It is worth noting that in response to Iran's military build-up, the US has been transferring large amounts of weapons to its
non-NATO allies in the Persian Gulf including Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.