Attack Iran, US chief ordered British

[Sub Atomic]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/06/30/wiran30.xml&sSheet=/portal/-


America's military commander in Iraq ordered British troops to prepare a full-scale ground offensive against Iranian forces that had crossed the border and grabbed disputed territory, a senior officer has disclosed.

An attack would almost certainly have provoked open conflict with Iran. But the British chose instead to resolve the matter through diplomatic channels.

"If we had attacked the Iranian positions, all hell would have broken loose," a defence source said yesterday.

"We would have had the Iranians to our front and the Iraqi insurgents picking us off at the rear."

The incident was disclosed by a senior British officer at a conference in London last week and is reported in today's edition of Defence Analysis. The identity of the officer is not given.

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[meisje]

1. Blair may be a lap dog, but he's no idiot!

[shraby]

3. Jeebus!! If Iran has the nukes that

are suspected, that could have been one very bad move!

[struggle4progress]

8. "I am not going to start World War Three for you." eom

[jimshoes]

2. So is this the phony baloney

excuse * was going to use to move on to phase II of the "Great Mid-East Clustercheney". Thankfully the Brits are beginning to wise up to the chimp's sinister master plan.

[Gloria]

4. The British did what Clark advised the other day, about dealing with

Iran "quietly."

[riverwalker]

5. and who was the brilliant military mind

that ordered that scenario? None other than Sadist Sanchez.

"Lt Gen Ricardo Sanchez then ordered the British to prepare to send in several thousand troops to attack the Revolutionary Guard positions."

[Media_Lies_Daily]

12. Look higher. Think "Pentagon", and then think "White House"....

...makes those seven carrier battle groups going out to sea even more relevant, doesn't it?

[Zhade]

22. That bears repeating!

makes those seven carrier battle groups going out to sea even more relevant, doesn't it?

Food for thought, my friend. You could be on to something.

[agincourt]

6. I think Rumsfeld made a rule 3 years ago,

that our generals can't beat chimpy's IQ by over 30 points. That leaves them all under 95. Might as well bank on a war with Iran or Syria if shrubco gets reselected. Disgusting.

[funkybutt]

7. SHIT! our media has really failed us

as MM said on his webcast for F-911 house parties.

THis is huge (IMO) and not one news source I've checked in the US has touched it. Anyone seen any american coverage of this?

Yeah, We'll stay here while you blokes go over there and wage war against yet ANOTHER country! uhmm...yeah right

[struggle4progress]

9. There were some curious stories a week or two ago ...

that might have been indications of a similar, more recent incident:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=623312

[jukes]

10. suicide

& damned sure calculated to escalate the war, w/o embarrassing american casualties for sockmonkey.




:grr:

[Media_Lies_Daily]

13. Under that scenario, American casualties would come soon enough.

[steely]

11. "...Iraqi insurgents...."

...in Iraq? Who let those guys in? Maybe they could use their diplomacy to entice them to go back whence they came. How does one become an insurgent in his own US puppet controlled country?

[Swamp Rat]

14. This is serious.

Isn't the "Telegraph" a right wing rag?

[D-Notice]

17. Yep...

Over here it's known as the "Tory-graph"

Does this explain why those British soldiers where arrested by Iran last wk?

Were they following oders?

[Swamp Rat]

21. Cheers english guy! Welcome to DU!

:toast:

If they were following oders, mabye it's cuz they were hungry? Just kidding... :dunce:

What's the weather like where you are?...and political climate?

Hey, aren't they gonna make a new "Black Adder" series? I hope they have the same cast as "Black Adder Goes Forth." Maybe they can get Rick Mayall, Adrian et al., which would be great too.

[daleo]

15. That must have driven Chimp and Sanchez crazy

The poodle won't be getting his Alpo this month. But good for the British, for not being pushed around by Sanchez.

The Telegraph was owned by Conrad Black, who was tight with PNAC and the neo-cons (Richard Perle was on the Board). They were recently bought by Barclay brothers. I don't know if their political orientation will be affected - I suppose some of our British posters would know about this.

The story below says there will be a "seismic shift", and that the paper will begin to support Blair, as their other paper The Scotsman is said to do.

http://www.reclaimthemedia.org/stories.php?story=04/01/21/0816108

[leftchick]

16. kick...

:kick:

[Junkdrawer]

18. Kick

:kick:

[muriel_volestrangler]

19. I doubt the Telegraph will change that much

its political point of view comes as much from reflecting its readers as its owners. While the Barclay brothers may be saying they won't slavishly support the Tory party from now on, that doesn't mean they'll switch to New Labour. As that article says, they're still right leaning (though of course that does describe Blair too).

But the Telegraph's market is affluent right wingers - which it dominates. The Scotsman may have supported Blair, but Tories are hard to find in Scotland these days. There's still plenty left in the south of England.

It's not surprising that this story turned up in the Telegraph - it is the archetypal paper for ex-officers to read. The journalists pay more attention to military stories than any other paper does, and probably have better contacts among serving and ex-military people.

[daleo]

20. Thanks, good info on the new Telegraph

It will help to put their stuff into context.

[struggle4progress]

23. kick

:kick: