Amerikansk Utenrikspolitikk

[Panther]

http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/war-peace/foreign-policy/6658-iran-policy-quot-i-039-ll-think-about-that-tomorrow-quot.html

12 November 2011 Michael Hurd

You can't attack Iran. It might make people mad!

Associated Press reports: Military action against Iran could have unintended consequences, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said, sounding the administration's strongest reservations about a strike since the release of a new report on Tehran's escalating nuclear ambitions.

Panetta told Pentagon reporters that he agrees with earlier assessments that a strike would only set Iran's nuclear program back by three years at most.

"Only" three years? So what's wrong with that? And how else are we to prevent a dangerous regime such as Iran from gaining nuclear weapons?

The only alternative is to sit, wait and let them do it. Is that actually preferable to "only" setting them back three years? Talk about sacrificing the good to the perfect!

"You've got to be careful of unintended consequences here. And those consequences could involve not only not really deterring Iran from what they want to do, but more importantly, it could have a serious impact in the region and it could have a serious impact on U.S. forces in the region," Panetta said.

[QIQrrr]

The Wall Street Journal, January 26, 2012: The Pentagon plans to expand its global network of drones and special-operations bases in a fundamental realignment meant to project U.S. power even as it cuts back conventional forces. The plan, to be unveiled by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Thursday and in budget documents next month, calls for a 30% increase in the U.S. fleet of armed unmanned aircraft in the coming years, defense officials said. It also foresees the deployment of more special-operations teams at a growing number of small "lily pad" bases across the globe where they can mentor local allies and launch missions. The utility of such tools was evident on Wednesday after an elite team—including members of Navy SEAL Team Six, the unit that killed Osama bin Laden—parachuted into Somalia and freed an American woman and Danish man held hostage for months - More Drones, Fewer Troops

Somalia raid previews new military strategy

[QIQrrr]

The Aspen Institute, July 20, 2013: A tour d'horizon of the Mideast and Southwest Asia with the former Commander of U.S. forces in the region. From the political crisis in Egypt; to the civil war in Syria, with spillover effects in Lebanon and Jordan; to instability in Turkey and Bahrain; to transition in Qatar; the nuclear standoff with Iran; to the potential for restarted peace talks between Israelis and the Palestinians; the end of the war in Iraq; and to the prospect of the war's end in Afghanistan, diplomatic policymakers, intelligence analysts, and Pentagon planners are working overtime to try to make sense of developments. General Mattis will give us his perspective on these critical issues and how they affect America's security - CENTCOM Review: Turmoil in the Middle East and Southwest Asia and Its Implications for American Security