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US trains Gulf air forces for possible Iran strike, while revisiting
strategy at home John Byrne
Published: Monday October 1, 2007
Two days after the a British report that an Assistant Secretary of
Defense declared, "I hate all Iranians," a report from the Gulf
reveals the US is training Arab militaries and regional leaders for a
possible war with Iran.
A Washington-based air warfare conference last month, led by Air Force
chief of staff Gen. Michael Mosley, was told how the US has helped
coordinate intelligence sharing and organize group military exercises
designed to make parallel warfare easier.
According to the Sunday Telegraph, Mosley "used the conference to seek
closer links with allies whose support America might need if President
George W. Bush chooses to bomb Iran."
The report says the Pentagon has helped set up an air warfare center
in the United Arab Emirates, modeled on a US base in Nevada. Dubai and
Amman are participating in the program.
The New Yorker's Seymour Hersh said Sunday the Bush Administration
will engage Iran on the basis that Iran is supplying the Iraqi
insurgency.
In a piece Sunday, Hersh writes, "During a secure videoconference that
took place early this summer, the President told Ryan Crocker, the
U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, that he was thinking of hitting Iranian
targets across the border and that the British 'were on board'... Bush
ended by instructing Crocker to tell Iran to stop interfering in Iraq
or it would face American retribution."
Another report last month asserted that the US Air Force has
reestablished the elite fighting force which planned the 1991 Gulf
War's air campaign and tasked them with "fighting the next war" as US-
Iran tensions bloom.
"Project Checkmate," resurrected in June, reports directly to Mosley
and "consists of 20-30 top air force officers and defence and
cyberspace experts with ready access to the White House, the CIA and
other intelligence agencies."
Though Iran wasn't the focus of the conference, it came up, the
Telegraph says.
"We need friends and partners with the capabilities to take care of
their own security and stability in their regions and, through the
relationship, the inter-operability and the will to join us in
coalitions when appropriate," said Bruce Lemkin, the American air
force deputy under-secretary for international affairs. "On its most
basic level, it's about flying together, operating together and
training together so, if we have to, we can fight together."
It's unlikely Gulf states would join any Western attack. But the US
might still need airspace access, and border nations might need to be
prepared for counterstrikes.
A Jordanian military aide told the paper "concern at Iran's attempt to
establish itself as a regional superpower" had fostered cooperation,
"not just at the inter-service level but also at the political level."
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strategy at home John Byrne
Published: Monday October 1, 2007
Two days after the a British report that an Assistant Secretary of
Defense declared, "I hate all Iranians," a report from the Gulf
reveals the US is training Arab militaries and regional leaders for a
possible war with Iran.
A Washington-based air warfare conference last month, led by Air Force
chief of staff Gen. Michael Mosley, was told how the US has helped
coordinate intelligence sharing and organize group military exercises
designed to make parallel warfare easier.
According to the Sunday Telegraph, Mosley "used the conference to seek
closer links with allies whose support America might need if President
George W. Bush chooses to bomb Iran."
The report says the Pentagon has helped set up an air warfare center
in the United Arab Emirates, modeled on a US base in Nevada. Dubai and
Amman are participating in the program.
The New Yorker's Seymour Hersh said Sunday the Bush Administration
will engage Iran on the basis that Iran is supplying the Iraqi
insurgency.
In a piece Sunday, Hersh writes, "During a secure videoconference that
took place early this summer, the President told Ryan Crocker, the
U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, that he was thinking of hitting Iranian
targets across the border and that the British 'were on board'... Bush
ended by instructing Crocker to tell Iran to stop interfering in Iraq
or it would face American retribution."
Another report last month asserted that the US Air Force has
reestablished the elite fighting force which planned the 1991 Gulf
War's air campaign and tasked them with "fighting the next war" as US-
Iran tensions bloom.
"Project Checkmate," resurrected in June, reports directly to Mosley
and "consists of 20-30 top air force officers and defence and
cyberspace experts with ready access to the White House, the CIA and
other intelligence agencies."
Though Iran wasn't the focus of the conference, it came up, the
Telegraph says.
"We need friends and partners with the capabilities to take care of
their own security and stability in their regions and, through the
relationship, the inter-operability and the will to join us in
coalitions when appropriate," said Bruce Lemkin, the American air
force deputy under-secretary for international affairs. "On its most
basic level, it's about flying together, operating together and
training together so, if we have to, we can fight together."
It's unlikely Gulf states would join any Western attack. But the US
might still need airspace access, and border nations might need to be
prepared for counterstrikes.
A Jordanian military aide told the paper "concern at Iran's attempt to
establish itself as a regional superpower" had fostered cooperation,
"not just at the inter-service level but also at the political level."
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