U.S. Forces 'On The Ground' In

Is Next?

The Guardian reports U.S. Special forces are on the ground' in scouting for US air strike targets on suspected nuclear weapons sites.

The Guardian report is based upon an article written by Seymour Hersh in the latest edition of the New Yorker. According to the Guardian, US commandos have penetrated territory in eastern seeking to pinpoint underground installations suspected of being nuclear weapons sites:

The report in the New Yorker said the Americans have been conducting secret reconnaissance missions over and inside since last summer with a view to identifying up to 40 possible targets for striking should the dispute over turn violent.

The New Yorker has a posted a press release about the Hersh article:

In the January 24 & 31, 2005, issue of The New Yorker, Seymour M. Hersh on and the Future of the War on Terrorism

One former high-level intelligence official tells Hersh, “This is a war against terrorism, and Iraq is just one campaign. The Bush Administration is looking at this as a huge war zone. Next, we’re going to have the ian campaign. We’ve declared war and the bad guys, wherever they are, are the enemy.

[. . .]

The Administration “has been conducting secret reconnaissance missions inside at least since last summer,” Hersh reports, with the goal of identifying target information for three dozen or more suspected nuclear, chemical, and missile sites. One government consultant with close ties to the Pentagon tells Hersh, “The civilians in the Pentagon want to go into and destroy as much of the military infrastructure as possible.”

[. . .]

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld met with the Joint Chiefs of Staff shortly after the election and told them, in essence, that the naysayers had been heard and the American people did not accept their message. The C.I.A. will “continue to be downgraded,” Hersh reports, and the war on terrorism will be “expanded” and “effectively placed under the Pentagon’s control.” The President has already “signed a series of top-secret findings and executive orders authorizing secret commando groups and other Special Forces units to conduct covert operations against suspected terrorist targets in as many as ten nations in the Middle East and South Asia.”

[. . .]

“We’re not dealing with a set of National Security Council option papers here. They’ve already passed that wicket. It’s not if we’re going to do anything against . They’re doing it.”

According to the Guardian, a White House aide downplayed the claims in the New Yorker, telling CNN, the report was "riddled with inaccuracies."

That denial isn't nearly strong enough to overcome reports of U.S. aircraft buzzing ian airspace.

Then there is the Haaretz report that Israeli Military Intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Aharon Ze'evi believes will have nuclear weapons in two years, if not prevented from doing so by the West.

Thanks to Winds of Change for the Haaretz tip.