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US generals ‘to quit’ if Bush attacks Iran
munaeem | 26 February, 2007 01:15
Some of America’s most senior military commanders are prepared to resign if the White House orders a military strike against Iran, reports The Sunday Times, citing unnamed defence and intelligence sources.
“The Sunday Times has learnt that up to five generals and admirals are willing to resign rather than approve what they consider would be a reckless attack,” says the report by Michael Smith and Sarah Baxter.
“There are four or five generals and admirals we know of who would resign if Bush ordered an attack on Iran,” a source with close ties to British intelligence said. “There is simply no stomach for it in the Pentagon, and a lot of people question whether such an attack would be effective or even possible.”
A British defence source confirmed that there were deep misgivings inside the Pentagon about a military strike. “All the generals are perfectly clear that they don’t have the military capacity to take Iran on in any meaningful fashion. Nobody wants to do it and it would be a matter of conscience for them. There are enough people who feel this would be an error of judgment too far for there to be resignations.”
A generals’ revolt on such a scale would be unprecedented. Robert Gates, the defence secretary, has repeatedly warned against striking Iran and is believed to represent the view of his senior commanders.
A second US navy aircraft carrier strike group arrived in the Gulf last week, doubling the US presence there. Vice Admiral Patrick Walsh, the commander of the US Fifth Fleet, warned: “The US will take military action if ships are attacked or if countries in the region are targeted or US troops come under direct attack.”
But General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said recently there was “zero chance” of a war with Iran, and played down claims by US intelligence that the Iranian government was responsible for supplying insurgents in Iraq.
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